


The Heir of House Black

by KageKagi



Category: Gundam Wing, Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-28 09:01:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 54,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13900710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KageKagi/pseuds/KageKagi
Summary: Harry attends Sirius's will reading and learns that there was more to the black family than anyone expected,





	1. The Reading of The Will

**Author's Note:**

> I make no profit from this. Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling, Gundam Wing is owned by Sunrise.
> 
> I'd like to thank Mendeia who has played a major role in assisting me with this story.

The air was stuffy in the parlor.  Old men smoking cigars, no windows to speak of, incense burning in the background for only the gods knew what divinatory magics.  Harry coughed for the third time in the 10 minutes they’d been there.  He walked further into the parlor, looking around for anyone he knew, but he didn’t recognize anyone.  Well, he recognized a lot of them, but only from pictures of books he’d read in Grimmauld Place last year.  Just the thought of it made him sick.  Sirius was really dead, killed by that bitch Bellatrix.  If he ever saw her again..  He gripped his hand to keep from thinking it.  The room was filled with politicians, aristocrats and hobnobs.  Anyone who thought they had a claim to Sirius’s fortune.  He’d expected the will reading would be a private affair, but he should have known it would still be packed like this.

He looked to Ron who he’d brought with him.  He got to bring one ‘other’ and as much as he’d wanted to bring Hermione, there had been a stipulation of ‘no muggle borns’ which he suspected Walberga was behind, because Sirius probably would have put ‘no purebloods or no Slytherins.’  
“So, what do we do now?”

Ron shrugged  “Dunno mate.  Never been to one of these before, but I bet we should sign in,” the redhead nodded over to a small book with a quill hovering over it.  “I don’t think this is the actual room where the wills gonna be read, it’s too posh for goblins. Bill’s always saying they have some weird fascination with muggle looking bored rooms… why would anyone want to be in a room that’s bored.”  

Harry chuckled, but just nodded at Ron’s misinterpretation.

The pair approached the book and looked down at the names already signed in.  Immediately both of them drew their wands and began looking around the room, but they didn’t see sign of death eaters anywhere and Harry’s scar wasn’t hurting.

“Blimey, what’s SHE doing here”

There, signed on the book, was Bellatrix Lestrange.  
\--------

“Now Bella. I cannot express this enough.”  Narcissa spoke to her older sister with more patience than she thought she could muster.  “You cannot, you must not use magic. He will be here, likely sitting on the far side of the room, but taking any aggressive action against the boy will just get you stripped of your magic faster than you can say Imperio.”

Bella pouted.  Her master had allowed her to go, with specific instructions to follow the boy after the reading and capture him if possible.  Of course, why wait, he would be in this very room, only a few feet away, unable to use any magic at all as well.  She could gut him right now in front of everyone   and none of them would stop her… well none of them, expect all of them.

“Of course dear sister.  You have my word.”

Draco watched his mother and his aunt as he looked back to all the security going into this reading.  He wasn’t really surprised though, it was a major Pureblood House and more importantly there was a Title on the line.  Not only was there a lot of money exchanging hands, but the Title of Lord Black, which had been currently held in limbo for many years was about to be awarded to the next closest male Heir to the family.  He was surely the next one.  Sirius Black had been Disowned.  He’d controlled the estate while he was alive, through Dumbledore’s meddling most likely, but he couldn’t pass on the title.  Regulus had been the Lord and he’d had no children.  Draco was the next, oldest male in the black line.  He was already preening at the thought, eventually he’d take on the Malfoy title too, not for a long time he hoped, but having the Black name.  He could throw that in Potter’s face and there would be nothing the boy who lived could do about it.

The Parlor had all been a hoax, an illusion to allow individuals to sign in without being seen.  Once he’d entered the room, he’d lost sight of his mother as she’d gone to say hello to a man he suspected hadn’t actually been there.  He’d signed the book and appeared in this room.  The room was still filled with people, but not near as many as he’d expected.  The sudden clamor in the room fell to a halt though when two more individuals apparated into the room.  He couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Potter and Weasley appeared inside looking like they’d seen Dementors.  Though, honestly his aunt had that effect on people, she was already making her way towards him with a look in her eyes that promised pain.

He sat down and watched, a grin on his face. Oh this was going to be good.  
\----

Harry felt the tug at his navel as soon as he’d finished writing his and Ron’s names.  It was just like fourth year all over again.  The Pen was a portkey and writing one’s name was the trigger.  The people.. Had any of them actually been there.  They’d all gone up in smoke.  Was this a trap, had he just been led to his death.  He appeared in the room, and looked around, wand in hand.  Bellatrix was there, only 20 feet away, standing next to her Narcissa Malfoy and in a chair a few feet from the both of them, Draco.  

Harry raised his wand, a spell on his lips, Bellatrix looked ecstatic, but Ron grabbed his friend and pulled the wand down.  “HARRY!!”  he yanked Harry away, getting between him and Bellatrix, though his courage left him as soon as she was there, right in his face.  “No magic, it’s the rules.  No one can cast, not even her.”

“Harry, my dear, how has your summer been” Bella cooed, leaning over Ron, an impressive sight since he’d gotten so tall, and ran a finger over Harry’s cheek.  “Nothing too Serious happened I hope” 

Harry moved to swing at her but a hand came down on his shoulder, yanking him into a chair.  Bella looked like a cat who’d lost it’s mouse.  Ron looked to see who had just stopped Harry, but the person wore a black hoodie.  A muggle hoodie.  He wore sunglasses as well, covering most of his face and the hoodie had been enchanted to prevent too much light from entering.  

Harry tried to stand but the stranger’s grip was iron, holding him down.  The stranger moved between him and Bella.  “Mrs Lestrange, the Will reading is starting.  If you would be so kind.”

And surprisingly, she nodded her head, backing away and took her seat.  The man released Harry, and was that a smile on his face, just a brief glimpse as he moved to the back room and sat down beside his twin.  When had they gotten there?  Two muggles at the reading of the Black will, who on earth were they..

\----

The reading was long.  No… Long wasn’t the right word.  Long described Binn’s classes or Quidditch games that ran over or even detention with Snape.  This wasn’t long, it was FUCKING long.  Ron was actually snoring softly.  Harry had had to wake him up several times, but the goblins just kept droning on about this property and that property.  This asset and that asset, they hadn’t even started assigning things.  They had to list each and every item in incredibly detailed… detail.  Harry knew this had to be a prank from Sirius to his cousins.  The only joy Harry had taken from the loss of 5 hours of his life was that Bellatrix and Draco also had to sit through it.  No bathroom breaks, no stops for lunch, chairs that had to be cursed to prevent any real comfort.  Nothing but the droning on of boring properties.  He’d finally had enough and needed to stretch. Maybe look and see if there was a pitcher of water.  That’s when he’d finally  
Noticed it.  The sound of soft clacking in the background.  Turning to see where it was coming from, the two figures.  The two muggles in the background, who’d stayed quiet and unobtrusive the entire time, were listening raptly to every word and one of them was taking notes on a computer of some kind.  Small enough to fit on his lap… what had Dudley called them…  Harry couldn’t remember honestly.  This place was magical, how had they even gotten it working in the first place.

“To Harry Potter, I bequeath thee Number 12 Grimmauld Place and my own personal vault.  It’s nothing like james’, but it’s all yours.  Give em hell.”

That got Harry’s attention. It seemed they’d finally started giving things out.  He smiled at the last words of Sirius Black.  He’d gotten the house.  Not that he was sure what he’d do with it, but it was his, it was a reminder of Sirius and that was all that mattered right now.

“The rest of the estate and all it’s vaults and properties and financial assets go Lord Black.  Sorry that it took so long to give you your due kid.  Regulus wanted you to have a normal life though, so I waited til now.  Due with it what you will, I know you’ll do good.  I’m Proud of you Odin.  Oh yes, Fuck you, everyone else”

A murmur arose as the two muggles in the back stood and started walking to the front.  Both removing their hoodies and glasses at once.  They moved to the front, one of them accepting a ring and slipping it on his finger while the other took a packet of deeds.  

Lord Black stood before them, short messy brown hair, Ice Cobalt eyes glaring them all down, giving no one room to speak.  “I am Odin Orion Black.  Lord of House Black.  I rightfully claim my inheritance.”

Magic seemed to fill the room, would he be struck dead as the imposter he was… no  It seemed not.  He stood there as the ring on his finger glowed and everyone sat a bit more rigid.  “What’s  going on” he whispered to Ron.  

“They have to swear fealty to him or be struck from the family.  It’s a really big deal to them, but none of them wanna do it, obviously.”

Harry looked at Ron curiously “I don’t feel anything.”

Ron Nodded, “Yea cause we aren’t actually blacks.  Not close enough anyway”

Nothing was said, but no one was struck blind or deaf or dumb, so Harry took that to mean they had accepted the boy.. the muggle as the new Lord of House Black, no matter how much it was apparent they wanted to say otherwise.

It was then that Harry really got to look around and realized that Narcissa seemed to be going pale for an entirely different reason.  He hadn’t really paid the blonde too much attention, but now that he thought about it, the man looked… familiar.  Not in a magical way familiar either, but Dursley Familiar.  He’d seen the man on the Telly recently.  His eyes widened when he realized who the man was.  Why was he hear.

“M..m..mr.  Winner. “  Narcissa stuttered.   “Quatre… What are you doing here”

Quatre smiled politely to his Aunt.  “Ah, Narcissa.  It’s a Pleasure to see you.  I’m just here to support my friend Odin.”  he turned to Draco.  “You must be Draco, It’s a pleasure to meet you.  Im Quatre Raberba Winner. We’re cousins”  he smiles brightly, as if that smile could light up a room full of Death Eaters.”  

Draco took the hand, standing and Shaking it.  “Pleasure.. Cousin”  


	2. The Meeting

Harry was still reeling from the event weeks later.  He was sitting in transfiguration class when it had all finally sunk in.  Sirius had had a Nephew. He’d known and never said anything, hadn’t even worried about the boy.  His everything had been Harry.  He hadn’t really realized how much the man, just a friend of his father’s, had cared for him until he had this perspective, making sirius’s death even harder.  

Harry had broken down in tears, right there infront of everyone.  People had starred, but Mcgonagall had excused him and he’d spent the rest of the day locked in the dorm really thinking about things.

He’d expected to have issues getting out of the will reading, what with Bellatrix and Draco right there in the same room.  He’d suspected another two or three of them were death-eaters as well, but no one had even bothered him.  That strange blonde muggle had gone over, spoken very politely to Narcissa, like they were old friends and then everything went crazy.  

Bellatrix went rigid, like she was looking Voldemort in the face, afraid of her own life.  Narcissa was as polite as ever, more so really, especially considering it was a muggle of all people talking to them.  Draco just looked confused, like he’d been hit by a bludger and wasn’t really sure which was was up.  It had actually been sorta funny.  Then the whole lot of them had Apparated away, leaving Harry and Ron alone with the two strange boys.  The brown haired boy never said a word to them, but the blonde had approached congenially.  Introducing himself as ‘Quatre Raberba Winner’ and giving his condolences for Harry’s loss.  He’d given Harry a business card, telling him to call if he ever wanted to talk and then the two had walked out.  

He’d called all right, several times, but never gotten any response.  He'd always gotten some annoying secretary telling him he needed an appointment and that Mr Winner was booked solid for the next few months.  He given up when school started.

He hadn’t really known what to think about it all, but what he’d finally come down with was that nothing had really changed.  Sirius was dead, he’d been left grimmauld place, along with plenty of memories.  He would go there over winter break, clean the place up and maybe then he could properly mourn the man’s death.  Now he had to survive school… and the slug club.  He rolled his eyes at the thought of his new professor.  

Dinner was certainly an affair, but everyone had left him alone after the first few rounds of ‘you alright?’ and ‘Potter’s being a drama queen again.’  What surprised him the most was how quiet Draco had been so far this year, tonight was no exception.

He’d almost made it through dinner with no problems. Things had gotten back to normal and everything felt like it was gonna be just fine when there was a sudden crack that silenced the room.  The sound of a house elf apparating into the room the way only they did, but when he turned to look in the middle of the room, it wasn’t a house elf at all, but a barely dressed elfish boy holding a large vellum scroll in his hands.  He wasn’t much bigger than a house elf, maybe standing 3 feet tall, and thin but definitely more humanoid than traditional house-elves.  There was a bit of wispy smoke around him that seemed to hover in all the right spots and he was dressed like a sultan’s courtesan with silken clothes and sheik veils.  

“Is that a Djinni?!”  Hermione gasped.  Of course she knew what it was.

“Harry James Potter and Draco Lucius Malfoy are hereby invited to dine at Winfield Hall, 372 Chester Lane, at 7:00pm on the 15th of September.  Please arrive Promptly at 6:45.”

The creature closed the scroll and turned to the teachers, bowing politely.  “Master Winner apologizes for the interruption of your evening meal and wishes the Teachers and Students of Hogwarts a wonderful evening.  Chocolates have been prepared as apology for this interruption. Have a good evening”

The creature vanished in another pop and as he vanished, a table covered in an assortment of freshly made chocolate desserts appeared in its place. When it was clear nothing else would happen, a brave young gryffindor first year made her way to the table to sample the delicacy, announcing to the school it was delicious. It wasn’t long before most of the school was taking part in the evening treats, even Dumbledore was seen inspecting the table that evening.  

\-----

The Djinni's announcement was the talk of the school for the rest of the week.  A least everyone except Harry and Draco who were dreading the dinner invitation with equal amounts of fear and excitement for entirely different reasons.  Harry sighed as he realized, he was going to have to talk to Draco.  They would probably have to show up together.  

Hermione had been going crazy about the Djinni itself.  A creature routed in arabic lore, the Genies of myth, the wish granters.  The truth was they were essentially another type of house elf with a more sinister twist.  Instead of enslavement, they entered into contracts with masters, often ending in the master’s misfortune, however they weren’t all evil.  In the end, she was positive it wasn't some death-eater trap and that chances are, the creature really was just the messenger.  Still she really wanted to come.  Harry honestly wanted to bring her, but the message hadn’t said anything about a plus one, unlike the willl reading.

He was waiting outside the Slytherin dorm.  He’d come alone, knowing Ron would only make the meeting worse and Hermione’s presence would likely cause a fight.  Several slytherin’s sneered at him as they went in, but none of them gave him any real grief.  Surprisingly, Malfoy came out after only 30 minutes, he'd expected to wait much longer.  “Come in Potter, we don’t have all day”  Malfoy sneered, holding the door to the Slytherin Common Room open for him.  Harry was Stunned, he hadn’t expected Malfoy to invite him inside, of all things.

Harry hesitantly followed him inside, ignoring everyone.  The common room hadn’t changed much since he’d seen it in 2nd year, but he hadn’t really had a chance to look at it much, looking at the window.  “We’re under the lake?!”  

“Clearly Potter”  Malfoy scoffed, leading him into his bedroom.  Unsurprisingly, it seemed Malfoy had private quarters. 

“I trust you have something decent to wear, Potter?”  Malfoy scoffed.  “I’ll not be seen with someone dressed like a Weasley”

Harry raised his voice to defend his friend, but thought better of it.  The last thing he needed was to get into an argument with Malfoy in the Slytherin common room of all places.  

“I have something.”

“It doesn’t matter, you’re wearing this?  I ordered it”  he handed Harry some dress robes, very nice dress robes. 

Harry eyed them warily.  “I think i’ll risk my own”

“They’re not cursed, Potter, I don’t think you quite realize the gravity of the situation.  The Dark Lord has nothing on Quatre Winner.  When he says you come to dinner, you come to dinner no ifs ands or buts.  Now try the damned robes on.”

Harry really didn’t ever think he’d be putting on clothes given to him by a Malfoy, much less changing in front of Draco.  Today really was a day for surprises. The robes even looked good on him, even though it was slytherin Silver and Green.  

“Good, I’ll meet you at the front gate at 6:30 tomorrow.  I imagine we will have a portkey waiting for us, now get out!”

Harry made his way out as quickly as he could, only realizing he’d forgotten his original clothes when he’d arrived back at the fat lady’s portrait wearing Slytherin dress robes.  He quickly charmed them red and gold then entered, hoping the house elves rescued his day wear before Malfoy did something, like burning them.

\-----

Harry was dressed and at the gates of Hogwarts at 6:30, just like Malfoy’s asked of him, Draco was already out there and looking more aggravated than ever.  

“Come on Potter!”  

Harry smirked, watching Malfoy attempt to order him around was becoming rather amusing, as if he had any real leverage at all when clearly Malfoy was the one who needed Harry and not the other way around.

6:45 came and the gates opened, the same elfin boy appeared and bowed to the pair.  “The master awaits”  he offered both of his arms to the pair and when each hesitantly took them, the three of them were whisked away in a whirl to be deposited on the ground of a manor so grandiose it made Harry feel like he was about to meet the Queen.

The door opened and Harry prepared himself for the royal treatment, what he got was something else completely.

“Gee, what are you two wearing, rugs.”  

A man with hair down past his thighs looked out.  It was wet and hanging freely and the man, was half-naked wearing only some leather pants.  Harry blushed, the other teen looked absolutely delicious like that.

Another man slapped the teen on the back of his head as he came down the stairs.  This one was chinese in descent and looked at the pair.  “Ignore the fool, follow me, we’re having dinner in the dining room tonight.  Your lucky its not Duo’s turn to cook.”  

The half naked one just blew a raspberry at the chinese boy.  “Hey, I’ll have you know, i make the best squirrel stew this side of Earth.”

Malfoy blanched.  

Harry burst into laughter.

The manor was extravagant,  fancier than anything Harry had ever seen, even Malfoy looked impressed.  When they finally arrived in the dining room, it was to 3 other boys sitting at the table, all in casual, muggle wear.  Each of them could only have been a few years older than Harry himself, not quite adults in the muggle world, but likely Adults in the wizarding world.  

Quatre stood and smiled.  “Welcome to my home.  We have Trowa to thank for this delicious feast before us, please join us”  

Their meal was a simple stew and some cooked vegetables and some freshly baked bread, but Harry had to admit, it tasted even better than similar meals at hogwarts.  The boy who kept stealing odd glances at him and who he later found out was Trowa was a magnificent cook.

Malfoy was oddly quiet, he ate his meal, spoke only when spoken to and watched their host with fear in his eyes.  

At the end of their strange and rather filling meal, Quatre stood.  “Thank you both for joining us.  I have some family matters to discuss with my cousin, I will leave you alone with Heero and Trowa.”  He smiled at Harry.  “It was a pleasure to meet you Mr Potter.”  Suddenly, the blonde seemed much older, much more serious, his eyes hardened and when he looked at Harry, the boy who lived felt as if he was being judged.  

The Blonde left the room and Malfoy followed.  The Long haired boy and the Chinese boy had retired as well, leaving Harry alone with Trowa, who hadn’t spoken the entire meal and Lord Black, who had spoken even less.


	3. Family Time

Harry sat there, looking at the two who stared back at him.  Lord Black, who had been introduced as Odin at the reading and Heero when Quatre had introduced everyone at dinner, just looked at Harry with a look that honestly terrified him.  It was as if the boy was considering how many ways he could dismember Harry with the fork he was holding.  The three of them were enjoying coffee and dessert, well…  Harry was enjoying it.  Lord black was holding his fork but hadn’t touched either of the other two.  The other boy..  Was sipping coffee, his dessert untouched as well.

“He does look like you.”  Odin had finally spoken, breaking the silence.

Trowa nodded.  “Quatre said it was the eyes.”  

Lord black nodded.  “Yes, I agree,  it’s definitely the eyes.”

What was it with him and his eyes.  People always said he had his mother’s eyes.  He’d seen images and had to agree, but something about the eyes, everyone always brought them up first.  Not how his face or hair that both made him resemble his father or how short he was or the scar on his forehead.  Always the eyes.

“If you’re not going to eat the cake Hee-chan, I’m gonna come steal it…  that’s cake abuse!”

The voice had come from somewhere…  maybe a loudspeaker and had completely broken the mood.

Heero frowned and rolled his eyes, pulling his cake plate closer to him, Trowa had broken out into laughter, pulling his cake plate closer too.  

A fork, quicker than lightning came from behind Harry, scooping up a little bit of the delicacy as Duo danced away from Harry before the boy could respond and tasted the treat.  “Mmmm…  Fei really knows how to make a cake.”  

Trowa, finally getting his laughter under control, sampled the dessert and nodded.  “Black Forest. He’s definitely improved.  You should try it Heero.”  His tone was soft, he sounded so much gentler than he looked.  

Heero finally took a bite and nodded his approval.  

The sudden change of mood, plus Duo’s presence in floppy bunny slippers and silk pajamas had completely erased all of Harry’s fear of  the moment.  He looked over at Lord Black.

“So.. umm..  Thank you for the dinner, but umm… why am I here?”

Lord Black stood.  “I didn’t know my uncle very well.  We spoke briefly before he died and he explained the situation to me.  I wanted to show my support to your cause.  His cause.  We don’t appreciate terrorism of any kind.  Our war ended just a few years ago and we have no desire to let a madman start a new one.”

Harry looked at him in utter shock.  That was the last thing he expected the boy to say.

“Oh yea, and Trowa’s you’re half-brother, we think”  Duo chimed in.

Harry didn’t even respond when Duo spoke, still taking in what Lord Black had said when the other sentence clicked and he turned to Trowa with a look.

“WHAT!” came two voices simultaneously.

\------

(10 minutes prior)

Quatre led Draco into a parlor.  There was a chess board set up.  Wizarding Chess, but it had a more arabian theme to the pieces.  Coffee and Cake on plates to the side, two comfortable chairs awaiting the two.  “Won’t you join me for a game.”

Draco followed stiffly, not sure at all what to expect.  Dinner would have been good if those stupid muggles hadn’t been glaring at him the entire time. He was half worried they might attack him.. Or worse, give him some disease.  When he was finally alone with his cousin though, he relaxed, just a little.  That was his first mistake.

They both sat down and silently started the game as Quatre took a sip of his coffee.  Draco was white, so Quatre got the chance to observe his cousin a bit.  The boy was smart and considered the board a bit, before he looked up and considered Quatre.  The blonde smiled politely, but inside he was smirking, he was being underestimated.  Something that happened all too often, something he took advantage of all too often. 

The game advanced in silence, each enjoying their dessert and considering each move carefully.  Quatre had already plotted out his win, but he wanted to see  what Draco could offer as an opponent, so he was making mistakes to let Draco get ahead.  “How’s your family.  I admit, I haven’t been in contact as much as I should have.  It pains me that I have been unable to get close to you.  Last I spoke with Lucius, father was still alive and you were much younger.  I regret we couldn’t come to terms on anything.  It saddened me then and It saddens me now.  I hate to see family in pain”

Draco eyed the blonde curiously, then made his move, smirking.  “Check.  Father and Mother are well. We don’t need your pity or your presence.  You would be better off staying away."

Quatre nodded, moving out of check. “I see.  That is a shame.  Are you aware of how Malfoy Lineage works?”

Draco paused for a moment, looking up at Quatre, stunned by the question.  How were they related after all.  Mother had mentioned a sister. An estranged sister.  “The line of succession is passed to the eldest sibling.”

Quatre nodded, making another move.  “That’s correct.  I find it odd that your father has yet to claim the title of Lord of house Malfoy.”

Draco stammered.  “W..What are you talking about.   Of course he has.  He’s always been..”  had he.  People called him Malfoy or Lucius all the time. Had anyone ever actually called him Lord.  He wore a ring but was it the Lord’s ring.  Draco had never been allowed to actually look at it up close. He made another move.

“My mother, Quaterine Malfoy Winner, Wife of Zayeed Winner was the eldest Malfoy Heir.  She claimed the title of Heir on her 18th birthday and intended to run the family business before she married my father.  She named her precious younger brother as regent to the estates until her eldest was of age.”  He moved his piece on the board before slipping a small ornate ring out of his pocket, slipping it on.  “I the younest of her children, however I was named the heir of my father when I was born. As she died, I believe she knew I would do her family justice and she named me heir of her own title. I hereby claim my title of Lord of House Malfoy with Draco Malfoy as witness. I give any who are unlawfully living on my lands three days to leave before the House wards shall consider them Hostile.”  He smiled “oh yes, check and mate”

Draco looked down at the board, then up to Quatre and the ring.  What was going on.  That couldn’t be true, that couldn’t possibly…  he felt the tug at his magic.  If he didn’t accept Quatre as his liege, he would be stripped of his name.  It was true… all of it.  

“What!”  was all he could say.  He didn’t notice that another had voiced his opinion at the same.  


	4. Letters

Harry was in a state of shock as Duo moved him to a chair.  Heero and Trowa glaring at the long-haired menace.  He just grinned back at them.  

“What!, like either of you were gonna say anything.  You two would’a sat there silent as lambs the entire night and nothing would’a come of all the hard work Quatre put into planning this.”

Draco exited from the other room, looking both happy and horrified at the same time.  He walked right over to Harry, snatching him by the collar.  “Some how, this is your fault”

That dragged Harry out of his stupor as he swatted Draco’s hand away, “what?” 

Duo giggled.  “Is that all you know how to say”  

Heero, Trowa and Harry all glared at him.

“Hey!  You have the same glare too!” completely unphased by all of it.

Quatre walked out, looking as regal as ever, though much friendlier than Draco now knew him to be.  “You two can spend the night here, Shaddi will take you both back to school in the morning.  I’m sure you both have a lot to think about.  Draco, if you’d like to Owl your father, I have an owl outside and some parchment in the drawing room.  Also, If anyone thinks it good idea to assault this location, please warn them against it.  That would be most unwise.  After all, we are protected by both Black and Malfoy wards” 

Quatre then bid them adieu and headed upstairs.  Heero and Duo followed, leaving the two boys alone with Trowa.

Trowa nodded for the pair to follow, giving them a brief tour of the estate before leaving Draco to consider what he should tell his father and what he should and shouldn’t say, since he knew the letter would be read by others as well.

As Trowa Finally led Harry to his bedroom, the pair looked at each other.  Trowa finally spoke.

“I don’t really know much.  Sirius mentioned that we share a mother.  He doesn’t know who the father is, but he was adamant that Lily hadn’t cheated on james and there was more to it than that. He did mention a man named Remus Lupin.  A werewolf, but we have limited contact with the wizarding world, so we haven’t yet been able to contact him.  If you want to treat me as a brother, that’s fine.  If not, that’s also fine.  Heero is like a brother to me and Sirius wanted us to treat you like family. Heero has decided to honor his uncle’s wish.”

Harry could only nod as the other spoke.

Trowa grinned “And, next time you call Quatre’s office, mention me and they’ll put you right through.  He probably forgot to add you to important callers list,” chuckling a bit. “He gets a bit distracted at work.”

Harry nodded again before slipping into his room.  Surprisingly, Dobby was waiting for him.

“Is Mr Harry Potter doing well sir?”

“Dobby!?  What are you doing here?”

“Shaddi comes to get Dobby.  Says Master Harry Potter will be needing my helps sir.  Oh, Dobby is so happy to be helpings Mr. Harry Potters.”

“Actually.. Yea, can you send Ron and Hermione a message for me.  Everything’s a little crazy, I’d like them to know, but I don’t have Hedwig.”

The house-elf bobbed his head and smiled.

\-----

Draco sat down at the mahogany desk, taking out quill and parchment and considered what he should say.  Was it all a bluff..  No, deep inside, he knew it was true.  Why had his father said nothing.  What a stupid question, Of course his father would say nothing about a sister who’d married a muggle.  He probably thought that she or her children would never show up to bother them. Oh how wrong he'd been.

He wrote:  
Father,  
Dire news has come to me in the form of meeting my cousin, your nephew, Quatre Winner.  He has his mother’s ring and has claimed it as his own.  He has exorcised his rights as Lord and will be reviewing the properties over the next three days.  Worry not, I’m quite safe tonight. Lord Black is hosting me at one of his estates, the wards are even more impressive than those at home. Lord Malfoy expressed his best wishes for his Aunt and Uncle and wants you to know that he hopes these dark times will soon be over. He's quite sure the Dark Lord will be captured soon.

With Regards   
Your son.  
-Draco Lucius Malfoy.

He sighed a breath of relief.  He could still write out his name.  As he’d signed it he was worried some ancient magic might have struck him down for impersonating a Malfoy.  It had happened before, once, to a malfoy who had signed their name on an official document.  House magic was nothing to sneer at.  There was a reason the Dark Lord had allied himself with so many ancient houses after all.

Draco didn’t go to his room.  He instead decided to wander the grounds.  He didn’t think he’d be getting any sleep tonight.  The gardens in the area were nice, but he hadn’t seen staff so he assumed Quatre had kept house-elves.  The house, the gardens, all of it was much too pristine for muggles to be involved.  It wasn’t until he made his way to what looked like a quidditch pitch, sans the poles, that he was broken out of his reverie.  Watching the long haired one.. Duo he recalled, speeding around a track at insane speeds.  It wasn’t one a broom, some type of two-wheeled vehicle.  Clearly muggle, but he couldn’t help the traitorous thought that entered his mind.  It looked wicked.  He watched Duo Park the vehicle and walk off.

Draco approached, eyeing the thing with trepidation.  His hands touching it curiously.  He jumped when someone spoke.

“Yo!” Duo grinned.  “Wanna ride?”  

His grin was catching, like a disease. Draco didn't even realize he'd spoken until he'd Duo was handing him a helmet.

“Absolutely”


	5. Alarms

Harry woke to the strangest of sounds.   Normally he wouldn’t consider laughter to be strange in any way, but when it was Draco Malfoy, laughing like a normal teenager, he questioned his sanity.  He rolled over and looked at the clock: 5:00 am.  “Bloody Hell.” He stood and walked over to the window, looking out over the back yard…  more like back yards, He couldn’t see the end.  Draco was standing next to Duo and the pair were cackling like madmen, at 5 in the bloody “IF YOU DON’T SHUT UP MAXWELL!” came a shout from a few windows down.  

Duo turned and grinned ear to ear at whoever at yelled at him.  “Whatchu gonna do WuWu?”  Duo taunted at his friend.  

Harry watched Draco stare at Duo in confusion then turned to face ‘Wuwu?’ before his eyes went wide and he ducked.  Several spells shot from the house towards the pair in rapid succession.  Duo ducked and dodged.  He looked at Draco and grinned “this is where you run,” and then Duo hightailed it into a hedge maze.

Harry watched as Wu Fei hopped out of his window onto a nearby tree in only a pair of pants.  He slid down the trunk like a fireman’s pole, wand at the ready and was slinging spells in a fury at his friend who was yelling taunts in what sounded like chinese.  

Draco rolled his eyes and turned to walk off before locking eyes with Harry.  He scowled but moved towards the wall.  Harry was on the second floor, but his window had no convenient tree to climb up or down.

“Well.. move out of the way”

Harry huffed and glared at Draco, as if to say ‘why should I,’ but Draco was already conjuring himself a set of stairs.  He stood at the window, glaring at Harry until the Gryffendor finally did move and Draco slipped into the room.  “They’re both crazy, I’m going to sleep now”

He walked into the room, right over to the bed and plopped down as if he owned it.  

“But..”

“You’re awake now, you don’t need it Potter, now be quiet”

Harry was tempted to hex him, but he didn’t have his wand on him.  He snatched it off the table with his glasses and walked away.  He was awake after all, maybe Quatre’s Djinni would be up and could make him some tea.  

Harry found his way down to the kitchen and was happy to find there was a pot of coffee brewing, exotic coffee.  “Mmm.”  he mumbled as he neared it, looking down at the kettle, inhaling the scent.

“It’ll be ready in a few minutes”

Harry Jumped as he turned.  Trowa was sitting at the table, reading the morning’s paper.  How had he not seen him?  

“Early riser?”  Harry asked.

Trowa shook his head.  “Quatre was having nightmares, Didn’t get much sleep.”  He didn’t explain any more. 

Quatre slipped into the room, smiling but looking worse for wear.  He stopped at Trowa, leaning down and kissing him briefly.  “Mmm, morning love.  Sorry if I kept you up”  Trowa shook his head and whispered something.  Quatre then looked up and smiled at Harry.  “I apologize if our brothers woke you early.  When Duo doesn’t sleep, he likes to be our alarm clock.”

“The kind that goes off too early”  Grumped Heero as he walked into the kitchen.  “Coffee ready yet?”  

“Two more minutes”  Trowa piped up as he started towards the kettle, pulling out some mugs.  He turned to Harry.  “Coffee or Tea?”

“Tea please” He spoke as he took a chair, watching the interplay between the three of them.  Quatre was sitting at the table, at the head, just left of where Trowa had been sitting.  A section of the paper had already been laid out and he opened it and started reading.  

Trowa was pouring three cups as he started another kettle and opened a cabinet door, pulling out the tea bags.  He Moved back to the table, setting the Coffee down, one at His spot, one for Quatre and handed the last to Heero who took a seat on Quatre’s other side.  

The door slammed closed and Wu Fei stomped into the room, holding a squirming rabbit in his hands.  “Hah!  No one turns him back til after breakfast.”  he plopped the rabbit down in a wood cage that had been sitting empty in the corner.  The rabbit was brown furred and looked very put out.  Trowa laughed.  “Didn’t make it to the end, huh”

The rabbit hurrmphed.    
Quatre got up though and grabbed a carrot, slipping it into the cage.  He pressed a hand over his heart briefly, laughing.  “I know, I know.  He cheated.”  he nodded as the rabbit looked up at him, accepting the carrot gratefully.  “Next time, turn left instead of right”

The rest of breakfast was an interesting ordeal.  They let Duo sulk in his cage til everyone had had 2 cups of coffee, then Quatre had changed him back and let him out.  He climbed out of the cage, still chewing on the carrot, as if his friends hadn’t just turned him into a rabbit, grinning like a loon as took his place at the table.  

The Djinni had shown up to serve them breakfast, cooking each of them something unique before asking Harry what he’d wanted.  He’d ended up with an omelet.  It was saturday, so he could have stayed most of the day, but he suspected he’d needed to get back by lunch time.  

When breakfast was over and the six of them were all sitting at the table, much more awake, Heero finally lifted his head and looked at Harry much more serious.  

“We don’t know much about Voldemort, however from what we’ve been told, Dumbledore does.  We need you to find out everything he knows and bring it to us.  We can’t do anything without information and there is very little digital info on him.”

“Why don’t you just ask him”

Quatre shook his head.  “As good a man as he might be, it’s clear that Dumbledore has his own agenda.  We aren’t a part of that and unless he can control us, he won’t want to bring us into the fold.  We will be of much more use to you in the shadows.  As of right now, Dumbledore believes we are just having you and Draco over for family matters.  As long as it stays like that, he can’t ask much more than that.  When it becomes clear that our interests are not purely political, he will be able to act against us and until we are sure that we can be allies, then we are enemies.”

He took a sip of his coffee, looking Harry over.  “I don’t want to have to be his enemy.  Albus Dumbledore is a great man, whom I respect very much, but he will not see things in the same light as us.  If you wish our help, then you will have to keep our involvement a secret, from everyone. When you have some intel, you can send it via Dobby or you can call upon Shaddi.  I expect we’ll be seeing movement from Voldemort soon, so the sooner we have some viable intel, the better we can react when the inevitable happens.”

With that, Quatre stood, nodding to Harry.  “I have business to attend to now, i’m afraid.  It’s been a pleasure meeting you Harry.  When Draco wakes, Shaddi will escort the both of you back to school.  Until then, enjoy my hospitality and try not to let Duo get you into any trouble” 

“Hey!”

Quatre giggled, grabbing his paper and his coffee and left the room.  
Heero stood as well, looking at Wu Fei and Duo, before he left the room as well.  Duo looked at Wu Fei then at Heero’s back and followed Heero out the door.  

“Want to practice some spellwork?”  Trowa asked, looking at Harry.

“We can?”  

He nodded, looking over at Wu Fei.  “If you don’t mind”

The chinese man nodded. “Follow me then”  

Harry spent the rest of the morning under the relentless taskmaster that was Chang Wu Fei.  Trowa was good, but it seemed that Chang-Sifu as he wanted to be called was on Snape and Flitwick’s level.  He’d been training at wand work since he was very little and in the few hours they had together, he’d already corrected some of Harry’s long learned flaws.     

Harry couldn’t help but think that the school would have done well with Change Wu Fei as a Defense Teacher.  Then he wondered, what was the chance he was related to Cho, but he passed it off, there were probably hundreds of Magical Changs. 

When Draco finally did wake, it was past 2 and Harry was honestly ready to go back.  He’d spent the morning practicing spellwork, Played a little muggle soccer with Trowa, Duo and Heero and finally convinced them to play some quiddich when he’d learnt they had brooms.  It turned out that Heero and Trowa were more insane than he was when it came to crazy broom stunts.  

Honestly, he was worn out.  So of course, Draco came walking out of the manor looking as proper and pristine as ever, while Harry was sweaty, dirty and panting.  The slytherin had sneered at him, grabbed Shaddi’s arm and not said another word.  

Harry looked back at the five as he was swept up in the genie’s teleportation magic.  He knew from this moment on, things were going to be very different.


	6. Questions and Answers

It seemed like the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.  Harry and Draco had returned.  As soon as they were on Hogwarts grounds, Draco had ‘snaked’ back up and stormed off to rejoin his friends, completely ignoring Harry.  He had to admit though, Draco had been different at the manor.  Something had changed him.  Maybe it was fear, maybe shock, maybe it was just the lack of peers to judge him, but he had been almost tolerable.  Harry shrugged though, not like that would ever happen.

They’d arrived back just in time for lunch and so when they came through the doors, Mcgonagall told them to head to the great hall.  He suspected that Dumbledore would want to talk to him after; though he didn’t think too heavily on it.

Rejoining his friends, there were plenty of questions, but he waved them all off as he focused on lunch.  For some reason, he was starving.  He was sure it had nothing to do with how active the boys had kept him this morning while they all waited for the snoozing Slytherin to finally wake up so the two of them could return.

“So..  what happened?  What was it like, what did you talk about, why did they invite Draco too?”

Harry laughed as Ron peppered him with questions as he and his two best friends made their way back to Gryffindor dorms.  

“It was actually pretty surprising.  The estate was so much fancier than I’ve ever seen, but there was no staff.  Quatre and his friends, one of which is Lord Black.  Lord Black..  Or I suppose I should call him Odin, he didn’t really seem the title using type.  Odin Black wanted to show me his support in the fight against Voldemort.  It seems Sirius clued him in on everything that was going on before… well... you know.”  he looked away, he didn’t want to think about it.  “Anyway, he said they were on our side.  Though, it’s just 5 of them and they’re only a few years older than us.  And only one of them is really proficient in magic at all.  I don’t see how they can help at all.   As for Draco, well he was Quatre’s guest.  I have no idea why he was invited, but whatever it was, it upset him pretty bad.”  He grinned.

Ron nodded,  he didn’t seem to have anything to say, but Hermione did speak up.  “I can’t really say anything about what they can do as members of the Wizarding Community, but I don’t think either of you really understand the kind of political pull Mr Winner has.  The kind of money he has makes people like the Malfoys seem poor.  He’s one of the 5 wealthiest muggles in the Earth Sphere and I think he is the Wealthiest Muggle in Space.  If Quatre Winner is a part of the Wizarding Community, it’s a big deal.  As corrupt as our government is”  she frowned even as she was suggesting it “He could easily buy out half the wizengamot with ease.  I don’t trust him.  He invited Draco over to speak in private.  He might be Lord Black’s friend, but that doesn’t mean he has your best interests in mind.  For all we know, he could be backing the Death Eaters.”

Harry frowned.  He shook his head, but then he remembered what Quatre had said.  He’d been speaking about Dumbledore, but here it was, happening with one of his closest friends.  Hermione didn’t trust them and she was making sense.  If she’d said any of this before he’d left… He might not have gone at all.  What if Quatre was right, what if Dumbledore wouldn’t be willing to listen.  Would they be enemies, would he have to pick sides and choose Dumbledore or his new family.

“Rich or not, He’s not well known in the wizarding world.  None of the purebloods had ever heard of him.  He’s not gonna be as big a deal as you think”  Ron piped up.  “They’re all happy with their heads in their arses and no way are they gonna bow to some new, muggle-born rich kid.  I don’t think you have anything to worry about on that front, and if Sirius trusted this Odin bloke, then I say we should too”

Harry nodded, grinning.  “Yea, definitely”

“Misster Potter”  drawled Snape as they rounded the corner, almost running into the imposing wall that was Severus Snape’s looming form.  “The headmaster wishes to speak with you.”  

Harry nodded, he'd been expecting this. He waved to his friends as he followed behind  Snape.  

\---

Harry was about to knock on the door when it opened.  Dumbledore was standing, looking at some books behind his chair as Harry walked in.  Fawkes chirped, he was just a hatchling right now, his burning day having just passed.  “Harry, welcome.  Have a seat, I’ll be right with you.”

Harry settled down, looking around.  He noticed a newspaper on Dumbledore’s desk.  A muggle newspaper.  It seemed he’d been reading a news report about some organization called Preventers.  Lord Black was in a picture, but he wasn’t the focus of the article, he was just in the background. There, in the forfront of the picture was a young woman, waving and smiling at the crowd.   
“How was your dinner.  I didn’t expect you to stay the night, I trust it was exciting?”

Harry nodded as Dumbledore took a seat, placing a book on his desk and opening it.   Popping a lemon candy into his mouth, offering one to Harry.

“It was certainly.. Different.  Not at all what i was expecting.  They wanted to offer their support.  I think you should meet with them, they might want to join the order”

Dumbledore nodded.  “Did they say that?  Did they mention the order?”

Harry shook his head.  “No sir, I don’t think they knew about it.”

Dumbledore nodded again.  “I see..  I will consider it.  One has to be careful with new friends however.  Helping hands coming out of the blue are rarely so nice without an agenda of their own.  Regulus Black was a known Deatheater after all.  I worry that Sirius was blinded by his love for his brother.  He never mentioned this boy.  Lord Black has not been properly vetted, I must ask that you refrain from discussing Order matters with him until I can make sure he can be trusted.”

Harry might have objected, if not for Quatre having warned him.

“Mr Winner, what do you think of him?”

“He was very kind.”

Dumbledore nodded again.  “Yes, I’m surprised the Malfoy Heir showed at this time.  I imagine it’s really stirred things up at Malfoy Manor.  I do worry though.  The muggle papers have nothing but good things to say about him.  He’s perfect, much the way the daily prophet speaks so highly of Lucius.”

Harry didn’t know what to say… “He’s a Malfoy?”

Dumbledore chuckled a bit.  “Ah yes, it was a bit of a scandal.  I didn’t realize at first, but after you left, I looked him up.  Lucius’s elder sister married a muggle and left the family. I wasn’t aware she’d had any wizarding children.  When Lucius came into age and she hadn’t returned, well everyone assumed he was the new Lord of house Malfoy.  I suppose not though.  Harry, I cannot urge this strongly enough.  Malfoy’s only care about themselves.  Quatre Winner cannot be trusted.  I worry he may be in league with Tom.  I wasn’t sure before, but now…  Well, we’ll see.”

Before Dumbledore could go any further though, Harry piped up.  “Did my parent’s have a second child?”

This startled Dumbledore as he stood abruptly.  He honestly looked upset, like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t.  He considered for a moment.  “If someone is claiming to be your sibling Harry, do not trust them. I have work to do, i’m sorry but we’ll have to cut this short.”

Harry left, but couldn’t help shake the feeling that Dumbledore wasn’t telling him everything.

Dumbledore pulled out his pensieve.  He needed to revisit some memories.  It wasn’t possible, the boy was dead.


	7. Memories of better days

Dumbledore pulled his head from the Pensieve.  He’d revisited the death of Triton Bloom 3 times today and he was certain.  Yes, the boy had been dead when he had arrived.  

Lily had come to him asking for advice.  A dear friend of hers from school, one Harold Bloom, had fallen in love with a muggle.  Harold had been an underachieving ravenclaw.  He’d done just well enough to pass, but hadn’t excelled in anything, though if their care for magical creatures teacher during those years had been more interesting, he was certain the bloom boy would have moved on to magizoology.  Dumbledore had lost track of the boy however, after he’d graduated.  It had seemed he’d married a muggle cook and was looking to start a bakery.  

They’d married, had a girl and everything was going well when Harold and his Wife had contracted Dragonpox.  Harold had been fine, however the wife was left barren.  They had apparently come to Lily, wanting her assistance with having a second child.  Lily and James had happily agreed.  Dumbledore had sent to a well known hufflepuff who’d specialized in such cases and that had been the last of it.  Lily had made him swear a magical Oath during the war.  She didn’t want anyone to know about the boy, in case death eater’s decided to track him down to be used as a hostage.. or worse.

After the death of Voldemort, Albus had visited the family just once to explain to them the dangers they might be in and they had decided to leave england.  Sadly, they had been attacked on the road.  Both Parent’s and the boy killed, but  the daughter had managed to survive.  He’d placed her with a magical family and to his knowledge she was doing well in a traveling circus, but had lost contact when she moved to the star colonies, a place magic couldn’t follow.  

When he’d checked the boy, just to be certain, the boy had been dead.  He’d hoped against hope that the boy would have survived, because he could have then set Triton and Harry up with a wizarding family, away from the Dursleys, with Triton's much stronger blood tie capable of better protecting Harry.  Was it possible the muggles had revived the boy.  He knew they could, if discovered soon enough.  He wasn’t sure.  Maybe the boy’s magic had saved him.  Returning from death was an extremely rare occurrence, but Harry had escaped it… what if some of Lily’s magic had saved Triton as well, but it had just taken a little bit longer.  He wasn’t certain, but if it was true, He absolutely had to find out.  Voldemort could not discover the boy’s identity. 

If Triton was staying with Lord Black…

He pulled out some parchment.  He would invite the group of them to the castle for dinner.  He could do more from here, where he was most powerful.

***

Harry finished his letter, handing it to Hedwig.  Trowa had mentioned Remus.  He knew something, Sirius had known something.  Whatever it was, he was certain Remus would tell him now, now that Sirius was dead..  Remus had to tell him.

Ron peaked his head into the dorm.  “Hey, Harry.  Wanna join us for some Quidditch.  Me n the guys are gonna have a game versus some Ravenclaws.”  Harry grinned.  Quidditch practice wouldn’t start for a few more weeks, but an impromptu game was just what he needed.  Generally, games like this didn’t have seekers, it was more just tossing the Quaffle around and avoiding bludgers, but it was still fun.  

They were almost to the pitch when they heard some yelling.  The slytherins were on the pitch, surrounding someone.  Wands were out, but it seemed they were just tormenting the person.  Harried seethed.  He’d about had it with this.  All of them were just death eater wanna be’s.  They were free to hang around and do as they pleased, but he knew more than half of their parent’s had been marked.  He’d fought against them.  He was casting before he knew it and soon it had turned into an all out flurry.  It had ended as quickly as it had begun.  The Slytherins had been outnumbered and like always, were cowards, fleeing as soon as they didn’t have the upper hand.  

Harry hurried over to the person they’d been attacking, but stopped as he looked into the beaten, broken eyes of Draco Malfoy.     
:


	8. Friends?

Ron had been content to mock Draco and leave him on the pitch.  The dirty git deserved much worse for the things he’d done over the years.  Harry might have agreed at one point.  He would have told a teacher of course, but he wouldn’t be where he was now, helping Draco to the hospital ward and  wondering why he was doing it.  He knew immediately of course, he could just imagine Quatre’s face when he learned the news of his cousin’s attack and for some reason, Harry really just didn’t want to upset Quatre.  He assumed it was a desire to not want to see such a nice person upset, Draco disagreed, he very much wanted to see an upset Quatre.  

Madam Pomfrey had hurried over to the pair when they arrived, putting Draco to bed and immediately went to the potions cabinet.  Harry had been allowed to stay with a stern ‘no trouble.’  
After she had cast a diagnostic and fed him a few nasty potions, she’d left the two boys alone, telling Draco he could return to classes when he was feeling better.

“So…”  Harry really didn’t know why he was even bothering.  Honestly, though, he was damn curious.  What the hell had happened.

Draco leaned back, watching the Gryffindor stumble over his words.  He had two obvious choices and he wasn’t sure which one was worse: Tell Potter off and go it alone or attempt to make an Ally and deal with being… friends. 

“What the bloody hell happened?”  Harry finally managed to ask.

His choice was made even as he considered it.  He needed, above all else, to be on good terms with his cousin.  His father’s name meant nothing now, but his cousin, both Winner and Malfoy, could move mountains.  If he wanted to maintain his power in house Slytherin, he needed a name to back him.  People had respected, had feared him before, when he was the Heir to Lucius Malfoy.  Now, he was a nobody.  A Malfoy who would inherit nothing.  Hiis word meant nothing, his name meant nothing and all his enemies knew it. 

“Lord..”  he caught himself.  Lord Malfoy Winner definitely deserved the respect, but he had the feeling that his cousin didn’t really like formal titles.  In front of other Slytherins, he would totally use them, in front of Potter though, he believed first names would be more effective.  “Quatre is the son of my Aunt.  My father’s elder sister.  He invoked his rights as Lord Malfoy.  Anyone who does not have his permission cannot step foot inside of Malfoy Manor.”  he narrowed his eyes to Potter.  He couldn’t just say names to the git, but at this moment, he was more than willing to sell the Dark Lord out.  He was no longer the scariest man Draco knew.  

“Oh.. wow”  it didn’t occur at first. “Your mom and dad?”

“Are safe at home”

Then it clicked, his eyes widened.  “He was at your house?!”

Draco nodded.  “Was.  No clue where he is now.  Now I’m nothing special and everyone at Hogwarts who matters knows it”

Harry really didn’t know what to say.  He sat down though and stayed the full hour.  They were quiet for the rest of the time, finally Draco stood.  “Thanks,” it was brief and he didn’t say anything else as he left.    
 ***

Quatre was going through some of his accounts when the owl swept into the room, dropping a letter on his desk and perching on a chair, staring at him.   The horned owl waited, looking like it owned the room as Quatre picked up his wand and scanned the letter for any malicious enchantments before grabbing a letter opener and pulling the parchment out.

To Lords Malfoy-Winner, Black and fellows.  
I wish to formally invite you for a dinner at Hogwarts.  The administration of Hogwarts wishes to congratulate the two new lords into the magical world and discuss renewing familial ties between Hogwarts and Houses Malfoy and Black.  Please let us know what night would be auspicious.  
With regards,  
Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, first class, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. 

“Damn thats long.  I think I’m just gonna call him Brian”

Quatre burst out laughing as Duo leaned over his shoulder, coming out of the shadows.    
He pushed Duo to the side, but let him read. 

“Ooo.. we gets to go visit Harr and Dray already”

His chuckling subsiding “Yes, it would appear so.  I hadn’t expected him to be so friendly.  From what Sirius told Heero, Dumbledore is the type to only do things that definitely benefit him.  Which means he assumes we will fall easily under his thumb.  He has given us an excellent opportunity .  I do hope you will be on your best behavior”

The braided menace grinned.  “Oh yea.  Definitely, all manners here.”

“Excellent.  Go tell the others, We’re visiting Hogwarts tonight”  He grinned as he pulled out some parchment and began writing their RSVP.  Dumbledore likely expected them to request a day later in the week.  Quatre, however, had cleared his schedule for the next few months so he could go over all of his and Heero’s new properties.  He had all the time in the world.  By his watch, dinner would be starting in 30 minutes.  He handed the parchment to the owl.  “I’m afraid I don’t have any treats, but there’s some rodents in the nearby woods, you’re welcome to your fill”  

The owl let out an approving screech and lept into the air to grab a snack before he returned with the reply.

Quatre headed to get changed, he couldn’t wait to see everyone’s faces.


	9. Dinner

Dinner had just started as Harry sat down.  Ron and Hermione were still bickering over some stupid argument that had started after potions and had lasted through the rest of the day.  It wasn’t the ‘won’t be talking to each other for weeks’ kind of argument, but really more the playful 'old married couple' kind of arguement. Honestly, Harry just wanted to lock the two in a cupboard and toss away the key til they resolved all the crazy sexual tension that kept the two going like this. He laughed as Seamus said as much, quickly shutting the two up.

Harry was just deciding what he would eat tonight when the doors to the great hall had burst open and four hooded individuals entered the hall.  All chatter stopped as everyone turned to look at the invaders.  The four walked all the way to the middle of the hall before the lead one lowered his hood.  Quatre Raberba Malfoy Winner looked up at Dumbledore, a bright smile on his face.  “I’m so excited to be invited to dine with everyone tonight.  Thank you so much for the invitation, Headmaster.  Where shall we sit?”

As quickly as everyone quieted, everyone started speaking excitedly again.  What was going on.  Harry looked at the other three.  Which ones were they, he suspected he knew and more importantly, the one he didn’t see was the one he was the most worried about. Where on earth was Duo.

Dumbledore cursed inwardly, though as a master diplomat he didn’t show it.  As he looked into the blonde’s eyes he instantly knew it would be a grave mistake to underestimate this boy.

“Ah.. Lord Malfoy.  I didn’t expect you so soon, I’m afraid we don’t have anything set up, but if you would wait a moment, I can”

Quatre raised his hands.  “No need headmaster.  I’m certain Lord Black would like to sit with Harry and I shall be happy to sit with my cousin.  We can certainly speak more after dinner”  

Dumbledore nodded, he certainly couldn’t say no.

The others lowered their hoods and Quatre began introductions.  “May I introduce my friends.  Lord Odin Black, Chang Wu Fei, Lord of the Long and Chang Clans.”  Heero stepped forward, nodding to Dumbledore briefly, looking at the rest of the student body before immediately heading over to Harry and joining him at the table.  He smiled… very briefly.

Wu Fei bowed at the waist before the headmaster.  “I shall join the Ravenclaws if they will have me for the night”  It was a brief request, not to the headmaster, but the students themselves.  Cho Chang stood and waved her cousin over.  They knew each other, barely, and she was happy to speak with him again.  

“And of course my husband, Trowa Barton.”  Trowa lowered his hood.  

Trowa looked over the children who began whispering again.  Same sex marriage was frowned upon in the wizarding world, but for entirely different reasons than it had been in the muggle world 2 centuries prior.  Here, marriage in families like the Malfoys and the Blacks was more for political reasons and securing an heir.  No one cared about sexuality if you didn’t have a lineage on the line, but suddenly when you weren’t creating heirs, it was a huge taboo.  Of course, Quatre could have given two fucks and he was making it very clear by announcing it to the whole of the wizarding world in this manner.  He loved Trowa and that was all that mattered.  

He turned to smile at his husband.  Trowa nodded and turned to head to the Gryffindor table.  Which apparently surprised everyone just as much.  Surely a no name wizard would sit obediently by his husband’s side, but it seemed that was not the case.  Trowa slipped in beside Heero and the two began chatting quietly to each other, being just as talkative as Harry remembered them being.

Quatre moved to sit at Slytherin.  Several spots suddenly opened, but he moved to the far end and sat with Draco.

“Cousin.”  Quatre smiled.  “A pleasure to see you again.  I hope school has been well.”

Draco nodded.  “Of course cousin.  Good as always”  Draco wouldn’t show any weakness.

Quatre smiled.  “It was so convenient of Dumbledore to invite me here.  I was just thinking how helpful it would be to have you or your father to assist me with all my recently acquired properties.”    
Draco grinned as he looked down the table.  Quatre was not being at all discreet.  Everyone was listening aptly.  Lucius Malfoy had been so incredibly respected and feared not just because he was a powerful wizard, but because of the amount of property he owned and the number of wizarding debt’s he’d managed to coerce people into owing him.  Just about everyone Slytherin at this table likely owed Quatre something, even if they didn’t know it… but Draco did.

“Your father has not returned my owls and I have several questions that need answering.  There is a book of ledgers that I recently discovered.  Debts owed for services rendered.  Several names appeared that I am unfamiliar with.  Nott, Crab, Goyle, Zabini, Greengrass, Bulstrode, Parkinson…”  the list went on and by the end of it, he’d named off more than half the table and several members of the ministry.  “I trust you can help me in getting in contact with these individuals.  I would like to settle these debts as soon as possible.  No reason to let them go on like your father had.”  he handed a small book to Draco.  “I’ll leave this copy with you.  I have a clone, just have them sign it and I will get in contact with them later.”  He turned to the rest of the table.  “So then, do introduce me to your friends”

Quatre smiled congenially at the rest of the table.

Draco was grinning maniacally.  This book was all he needed.  He’d just been given all the power he needed to reclaim his position as Prince of house Slytherin.  

“Why of course Cousin.  I’d love to”

***  

Heero was watching Quatre curiously.  “It looks like he’s succeeded.”  Trowa nodded.  “As if there was any doubt.” 

He turned to Harry.  “So, how are classes?”

Harry shuffled uncomfortably.  Everyone was staring at him.

He grinned.  “Good..  umm.. What are you doing here… and where is Duo?!”  

“We were invited to dine with the Headmaster.  He made the mistake of allowing Quatre to set the date.”

Trowa smirked.  “Bad move on his part.  Duo was with us when we arrived.  He must have gotten lost.”

Harry paled…  “Gotten lost?”

Hermione interjected.  “Harry.. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Harry grinned, rubbing the back of his head.  “Ah..  yea, sorry.”   He looked at all his friends.  “Ah, everyone, this is Lord..”  Heero scowled.  “Ahh..  This is Odin…”  

“Heero.  Call me Heero”  

Harry nodded.  “Yea, this is Heero.”  There were a series of confused looks, but soon enough everyone was saying hello.  Harry looked at Trowa, not sure how to introduce his brother.  Trowa helped him out though.

“I’m Trowa Barton..  Harry’s Half-Brother”

The group all turned to look at him, though it seemed not everyone had heard him, Harry sighed.  That would have been awkward.  Not that it mattered.  He’d spilled the beans, the whole castle would know by the end of the night.

***

Dinner had been quite an event.  Halfway, Quatre had moved to the teacher’s table to speak with Dumbledore and the other professors.  Wu Fei, it seemed, was well liked at Ravenclaw.  He’d made fast friends with the other well read students and a fast paced debate had grown over the night.  Heero and Trowa, for all their silence, were getting on well enough with Harry’s group of friends and every once in awhile, a laugh could be heard as they regaled the group with a story.

Dessert was growing to a close, everyone was tired and getting ready to head to their rooms when the doors to the great hall burst open.  A maniacal laughter could be heard.  Draco and Harry’s heads shot up as they looked on in horror.  Duo maxwell entered the hallway, laughing along with his new best friend, peeves the poltergeist.  Duo came up to the professors table, everyone staring at the stranger.

The Braided boy looked right up at Dumbledore who honestly was looking at the boy in a mix of curiosity, amusement and wariness.  

“I’ve gotta say Brian. This castle is amazing!”  

The teachers all went wide eyed.  Who was this boy, disrespecting the headmaster like that.  Dumbledore just smiled.  “I’m glad you like it.. “  he trailed off.

“Ah.. pardon me" Duo smirked, bowing pretenciously "Duo Maxwell, Principal of the school of hard knocks, Order of Solo - Second Hand, Master Thief, Greatest Jokester of the Global Union of Pranksters, Head of the Wisecrack Committee.” He ticked off the rediculous titles one after the next like it was totally normal for him. Grinning ear to ear when he stood, everyone waited with baited breaths for Dumbledore to respond.  The wizened headmaster stood, laughing with a standing ovation.  “It’s an honor to have such an esteemed man join us”  he grinned conspiratorially.  “You’re just in time for dessert.”

“Fantastic.  Don’t mind if I do”  he moved up to the teacher’s table.  A chair appeared for him and he plopped down between Snape and Dumbledore.  Turning to the Defense Professor, he grinned wide.  Snape narrowed his eyes, he could could tell he was not going to like this boy.

Dumbledore grinned.  Tonight had been full of surprises, some good, some less so, but it seemed it was going to end on a jovial note.  He didn’t know anything about this new boy, but he could tell he liked him.  

Duo grinned, eyeing Quatre and nodding.  Mission accomplished.


	10. Secret Discussions

The five of them sat at a small table in some unused classroom at Hogwarts.  Dinner had come and gone and all of the students had gone to bed.  Dumbledore had invited them all to stay the night to discuss more private matters. They had had a chance to meet with each and every professor briefly at dinner, but now they could more openly discuss things.  

Dumbledore entered the room, expanded the table to fit three more as he, Professor Snape and Professor Mcgonagall entered and sat down at the table with the five of them.

“Well.. I must say, I’m very happy you decided to accept my invitation for dinner, Lord Malfoy.”  Dumbledore started, as pleasant as ever.  He had fears, but he wouldn’t let them cloud his judgement.  “Harry tells me you have been informed on several matters.”

Quatre nodded, smiling.  “We very much appreciated the offer.  I saw no reason to wait when the letter arrived.  The sooner, the better I like to think.   Before we get too involved though, you treated us all to a magnificent dinner, would any of you care for a night cap?  Perhaps some Tea or Coffee?”

Quatre clapped his hand and the Djinni that worked for him appeared, bowing obediently to his master.  “How may I serve, m’lord.”

Snape declined, Mcgonagall nodded though.  “I think a cup of brandy would be fantastic.”   

Dumbledore nodded as well.  “Tea for me please”

The servant nodded and summoned the drinks, one cup appearing before all five boys, each, as well as a cup for Mcgonagall and Dumbledore, before the servant vanished.  Dumbledore appreciated the nicety and the tea was delicious, but he knew a power play when he saw one.    
‘I have servants that can come and go as they please.’  It was something Dumbledore had done himself in times before when meeting foreign dignitaries.  Show off a little bit of his hand, just to put someone in their place.

Quatre smiled, taking a sip of his own drink.  “Yes, Sirius Black, a man who died without having seen true justice, explained a great deal to Lord Black.”  He turned and nodded to Heero.

Wu Fei stood, walking over to Heero and placed a bowl on the table.  He placed a wand at Heero’s temples and drew a long, silver strand from his temple, placing it into the bowl.  Summoning a small, lazy susan, placing the bowl atop and spun it, until the bowl was in front of Dumbledore.

“My memories will better explain the situation.”  Heero said.

“You can rest assured the memories are untampered.”  Wu Fei explained.  “It would shame my house to practice deceit to potential allies.”

Dumbledore nodded, understand the message clearly.  Even if the memories were falsified, which he suspected they had not been, to suggest they were would be to insult a potentially powerful chinese family.  He’d never heard of the Long Clan, but the Chang Clan were well known. Hogwarts was lucky to have gotten Cho to come, even if she was a lesser member.  All the highborn Changs were privately tutored by the most prestigious of chinese sorcerers.

As he pushed his face towards the memories, he fell down the silver waterfall, landing in a familiar room.  Snape and Mcgonagall landing at his sides.  Sirius Black was looking at a slightly younger Odin Black.

“It’s been hell trying to find you kid, yanno that.  I think if you hadna gotten that picture taken with that pink princess of yours, then I wouldn’t have ever found you.  You’ve made your dad proud, the git that he was.  Found yourself a spot in the muggle government, just behind the real seat of power.  You are definitely your father’s son.”

Heero snorted.  “Sirius Black, escaped convict.”  Sirius froze, a look of fear in his eyes.  Snape smirked.  “It seems the mutt got more than he bargained for”

Heero continued “Imprisoned for alleged crimes, without a trial. Sloppy police work. I suspect you are most likely innocent.”  Snape’s face fell into a scowl.  
“What is it you want of me.  I have no ties to the wizarding world.”  
Sirius smirked.  “Ah.. kid, I wish I could say that was true.  I really do.  Our world is pretty fucked right now, what with the Dark Lord on the rise and all.”

“Voldemort, or should I call him Tom Riddle.”

Dumbledore gasped.  They knew who Voldemort was, impossible.

Sirius looked just as surprised.

“When I discovered the wizarding world, I did some digging into its recent history. Even if I have no part in it, it would be folly to ignore something that could blow up in my face at any time.  Voldemort’s war was partially responsible for Trieze Kushrenada’s War to End All Wars.  It seems that the rise of a Dark Lord preempts a non-magical war.  Looking into history, you will see this is the case every time.    It was a little bit of research, but based on accounts of the Dark Lord, the time of his appearance and his skill in magic, and of course the area he focused his war on, he had to have come from Hogwarts.  Just looking at the list of Hogwarts graduates, a public record, Riddle makes the most sense.  Then of course, there is his name itself.  When you add a few letters, I am lord voldemort, an anagram for Tom Marvolo Riddle.  Well, it seemed obvious.”

Sirius was dumb founded.  “I dunno who your mom was kid, but you had to have gotten that from her.  Blacks aren’t near that smart.”  he chuckled.  The black family had been one of his biggest supporters and none of them had figured out who he was, and it had been right under their nose all this time.

“Anyway… Listen.  I know you ain’t gonna believe this, but Voldemort’s back and the resistance just isn’t as good as it used to be.  Dumbledore’s training Harry to beat him again, but it’s not Harry’s job.  I’m his godfather and I intend to do my best to keep him from having to go to war if at all possible.  Us adults should do that, not the kids.  Chances are, I won’t live that long though.  I can’t help out like I want to, not with the government after me.  Dumbledore won’t let me do what needs to be done either.  He’s a good man and a powerful wizard, but he’s got too much on his plate.  Listen…  When I die, you’re gonna inherit all of this and much more.  You got yourself some powerful friends too.  I dunno how much help you can be, but even if it’s just being a friend to him… please.”  

He got on his knees, looking far more humble than any Black should ever look.    
“I know we haven’t ever done anything for you, Odin.  I know the wizarding world doesn’t owe you anything and you could live a much happier life ignoring us all…  but please.  Help Harry the way I want to but can’t.  Help him out and keep him safe.”

Heero said nothing for a long moment.  He had a scowl in place, the kind of scowl that reminded Sirius of his mother when she was disapproving of anything he did. 

Sirius stood, looking a little upset, turning away.  “Nevermind… I never should have thought Regulus’s kid would have helped.”

“Mission Accepted”

Sirius turned, a grin on his face.  The memory faded and the group came back to themselves.  Wu Fei was already returning the memory to Heero’s head.  

Dumbledore wasn’t sure what to say.  

“This happened a few weeks before his death.  He sent a house-elf to summon me.  We spoke briefly afterwards and I never saw him again.   After his death, when I was going through his things, well, the house was home to an Order of the Phoenix for some time. It is a safe assumption that this is the rebellion he spoke of, a rebellion, that I suspect is led by the only man in Wizarding Britain to have a phoenix for a familiar” He looked pointedly at Dumbledore.

Quatre picked up as Heero finished.  “We have made a pact with Lord Black’s closest relative to protect Harry and keep him from knowing the horrors of War.  We kill so that other’s don’t have to.  I understand if you do not wish to fight the war in the manner that we intend to.  If you wish for us to go our way, We will be happy to leave and never return to Hogwarts.  You can fight Tom Riddle your way and we will fight Tom Riddle our way.  We would love to join forces though, as that would clearly make things both easier for both of us and worse for Riddle, however I understand if you do not wish to stain your hands with blood.  We will not, however, become your lackeys.  An alliance with us is just that, an alliance between two organizations.  We will not join the Order of the Phoenix.  The Order will become allies with…  he looked at Duo… “umm.. What are we calling ourselves this time?”

Duo grinned.  “Order of Severed House-elf Heads?”  he suggested.

“No… too telling.  There’s a good chance the enemy will recognize it”  Heero negated the option immediately.   
“SNAFU?”  Duo grinned.

“Tempting.. Wizards won’t get it though”  Quatre conceded.

 Duo sighed.  “I suppose we can just go back to being numbers.  It’s soo boring though, we have the chance for an awesome team name.  It feels like a waste”

Quatre laughed.  “Yes..  simple is best though.  The Order of Numbers.   Well then, I’m certain you need to consider things, we don’t plan on waiting around forever.”

Dumbledore considered his options.  Many things had been made clear to him.  These five weren’t the enemy.. At least they weren’t Tom’s allies.  The could be a different enemy if he didn’t make the right decisions and make them soon.  He didn’t want to agree to too much without more information though.  He steeled himself and made a decision”

“I notice that not all of you are carrying wands.  Are the five of you all wizards?”

Quatre smiled.  He expected this question, but was curious as to where Dumbledore was going with the new line of questioning.  “Wu Fei and myself have had formal personal Training, Though Wu Fei is the only one who deserves to be called a master.  Lord Black and my husband however are still fairly new to magic.”

Dumbledore looked at Duo curiously.  He noted the blonde didn’t mention him at all.

Duo smirked.  “I got magic, but it’s not normal by any means.  I couldn’t cast a spell not matter how hard I tried.”

Snape smirked.  “You’re a squib”

Duo shook his head. “Nope… I was born with magic..  Just never used it, never taught it, never knew til just a few years ago”  

Dumbledore gasped..  “And I ain’t an obscurial either.  Knew one though, poor kid.  Plague got him, but not before he went wild.” Duo continued on.

“Wait… are you suggesting you survived fighting an obscurial with no magical training before the age of 11.”

Duo only grinned.

Dumbledore clapped his hands.  “Well then, it’s settled.  We would both, obviously, like to get to know one another better.  A true alliance cannot be formed without trust.  I have a suggestion to help us create a better bond, for both ourselves and for Harry.  You 5 will join Hogwarts as apprentices.  It is uncommon for graduates to take an apprenticeship in a school not their Alma Mater, however it is not unheard of either.  We can get to know each other better and perhaps in time, find a way to defeat Tom Riddle, without involving the hands of Harry Potter and the innocent’s of his era.”

The four looked at Quatre.  This sounded too good to be true.  They all had better things to do than play student and only two of them would even benefit from this at all.   

Quatre smirked.  “That would be fantastic.  We’ll need a few days to sort our affairs.  We shall be here monday morning.  No need to give us extra housing, I think I should enjoy being sorted and making some new friends.  I have one condition though.  It would be an insult on Wu Fei to suggest he needs any learning whatsoever and it is likely such a ruse would be seen through immediately by anyone with half a brain.  If you want some of us, you have to take all of us.  Find a position in the school to Hire Wu Fei that would benefit the school the most and we can do this.”

Quatre stood “We’ll leave you to your thoughts, have a pleasant night”  

Quatre left, not giving Dumbledore any time to respond.  Heero, Trowa and Wu Fei followed silently after,  Duo, waiting for the others to leave, finally stood with a grin.  

“Hey.. um.. I wouldn’t bother with the 3rd floor hallways for at least a night or two… definitely not at night… Wasn’t really expecting to stick around an all…”  he grins.  

“What did you do?”  Snape scowled.  

“Nothin lethal..  Nothing Peeves wouldna done.. He thought it was hillarious.”  Duo moved back into the shadows of the room and vanished.

Snape fired a stunner where the boy was, but the spell hit the wall.  Duo was gone.  He ran into the hallway that led to this room, they were all gone.


	11. New Homes

The school was abuzz with excited chatter monday morning.  Word was that they would be receiving new students.  Older students coming to learn advanced material from the Professors.  The information leak had come about on Sunday when a first year hufflepuff had overheard Sprout and Trelawny talking about it in the kitchens.  By the end of the night, everyone was speculating, but the professors had said nothing on the matter.

Harry actually knew better, for a change.  He’d received a letter from Lord Black that morning, before all the rumors had spread with a very short sentence.  It confused him at first. ‘Be seeing you soon, Jamie,’ until Hermione read it and explained that Jamie was just another way of calling him James.  The author was using his middle name… and hadn’t that other boy so irreverently used Dumbledore’s middle name too.  

Harry smirked, somehow, as little as he knew the boy, he could see Duo writing this letter.  Then the rumors had started and he knew.  They were coming to stay… but was that even possible.  As soon as he asked, he regretted it.  Hermione proclaimed a trip to the library was necessary.    
They’d end up spending all day looking up old records of the school and indeed it seemed that in ages past, alumni had returned for additional training in the position of assistant teachers or apprenticeships, however, never in the history of the school had the position ever been offered to non-alumni.  There was even a recorded case where a beauxbatons alumnus had requested to be taught by the prestigious Professor Dumbledore, but the headmaster of the time had turned her down, citing ‘It would be against tradition and you should honor your own school with such a request.’  

Hermione was still worried that these new people didn’t have Harry’s best interests at heart, but if Dumbledore had broken rules to allow them to stay, she would reserve judgement.

All of Monday came and went though, with no sign of the 5.  The Professors even looked confused, well, Dumbledore never looked anything but happy, but Harry suspected he was confused as well.  They were just finished Monday night dessert when the doors opened and the 5 young men walked down the isle of the Main hall, all looked wet and tired and more than a little hungry.  

“I do apologize for our lateness.”  Quatre finally spoke when they had reached the midpoint of the hall.  “Things came up, Business and whatnot.  I do hope it hasn’t been an inconvenience.”

Dumbledore stood and shook his head.  “Not at all, better late than never.  I think that everyone would be more than happy to extend dinner for a quick sorting”

This news, of course, roused everyone. 

Ron leaned over.  “Sorted??”

“Well.. yea, they aren’t graduates.  They gotta get sorted.. Right?”  Harry looked at the resident expert.

“I don’t know”  Hermione said.  “I suppose that would make sense.”

Mcgonagall summoned the hat and conjured a stool, then waited for the 5 of them.

“Trowa Barton.”  Trowa sat on the stood as the hat was placed on his head.  The hat was silent for a while and there were murmurs about hat stall.  However, before it came even close to the current record holder’s time, they hat called out “Gryffindor!”

Trowa stood and headed over to join his new table.  

“Lord Odin Black.”  Heero sat down as the hat was placed on his head.  There was silence for a moment before the hat spoke, loud enough that anyone listening, everyone, could hear.  “I need to see your past boy to understand where you belong, if you could please unlock your mind”

Heero grunted softly, but the hat smirked immediately, then frowned.  It seemed this one was going to take a while too.  Twice as long as Trowa, nearing 2 minutes before finally shouting out “Gryffindor!”  
Heero rose and joined his fellows, sitting beside Trowa.

“What took so long?”  Harry leaned over and asked.

“Seems I have traits for Hufflepuff as well, it seemed adamant I belonged with them, but I proved otherwise”

“Duo Maxwell.”

Hermione nodded. “The hat considers your own choice pretty heavily.”

Duo took a seat, grinning like a loon,  the hat was barely on his head before it shouted out “Gryffindor!”

Duo pumped his hand “yes, shortest time!” and hurried over to his table who all seemed eager to meet someone who was clearly entirely Gryffindor.

“Lord Quatre Raberba Malfoy Winner.”

That shut everyone up.  Where would this one go, everyone suspected, but Harry new better.  Quatre was a shoe-in for Hufflepuff. He was way too kind hearted for anything else.  

He sat on the stool and the hat was lowered, but before it even touched his head, the hat already knew.  It bellowed out “Slytherin!”

There was immense clapping from the table of serpents, with mild clapping everywhere else.

Harry’s mouth dropped open.  “No way”

Hermione and Ron both immediately made up their minds.  “I knew it”  “That slimey..”

Both immediately shut up as Trowa glared at them.  His eyes promised pain if anyone defamed his husband.  Immediately, they knew why he was a Gryffindor.  A Hufflepuff would have let them call the boy a name and then defended his Honor.  A Gryffindor would attack first and ask questions later, they were lions after all.

“The house is very fitting of Quatre.  Clever, Ambitious and Resourcefull.  Quatre is all of those in spades.  Had he been sorted as a child, he might have gone to Hufflepuff or even here, but as a man, he is definitely Slytherin to the core.  That, however, does not mean he is evil.  Not all Slytherins are.”

Duo nodded.  “Yea, I mean look at ol greasy.  Clearly Slytherin, but he’s a prof, so definitely a good guy”  he grinned.  

The others mumbled otherwise.

Wu Fei stood there, silently, but McGonagall did not call his name.  She headed back over to Dumbledore, handing him the hat and sat down.

“Well, that is all for our students.  Now, for a Hogwarts first.  History in the making.  We shall be sorting a Teacher”

He approached Wu Fei, offering the chinese wizard the hat.  Wu Fei took it and sat it on his head, but immediately it called out “Ravenclaw!”  Wu Fei handed the hat back to Dumbledore then joined him up at the Professor’s table.  

“Professor Chang Wu Fei has decided to take up the post of a long needed replacement.  History of Magic.”

Professor Chang stood, eyeing all his new pupils.  “I am Chang Wu Fei, Lord of the Honorable Long and Chang Houses.  While I am your teachers you may call me Professor Chang or Chang-Sifu.  I have looked over the History syllabus and it seems it is in need of a great change.  I expect everyone to pay attention in class, sleeping will NOT be tolerated.  He bowed to the students and sat down.  Dumbledore clapped his hands as their new students and teacher were provided dinner.  

“Everyone is free to return to their dorms, or stay and greet the new members of our family.  Have a good night everyone”  Dumbledore stood and left as did many of the teachers, leaving only Vector who wanted to speak with Professor Chang and Snape who seemed to be eyeing the new students.

***  
Quatre followed Draco down to the dungeons where he was to sleep for the remainder of his time at the school.  Draco gave him a brief tour of the dorm, then asked politely if he could retire. 

“If you wouldn’t mind, Draco.  I’d like to speak with all of Slytherin before we head to bed.”

Draco nodded “Of course.”  As soon as he was out of hearing range, he groaned.  As quickly as he’d regained his power, Quatre had shown up and stripped him of it.  Admittedly, he hadn’t been pushed down to the level of a mudblood anymore, now he was far more like his father.  The second hand to a terrifying new master.  Though, in hindsight, he wondered who had the worst master.  His father or Him.

The common room had be reorganized to fit them all at a long table, one that clearly showed rank as to who sat where.  There had even been little pieces of parchment at each seat.  Quatre was making it clear, he was master here.  You sat where he wanted you to sit.

“Well…  I believe there’s no need for chit chat.  Everyone wants to go to sleep so I shall be brief. The wizarding world is about to be plunged into war.  In war, people die on all sides, it is inevitable.  I should like to prevent this at all costs.  Needless death is a horrible thing. “

He took a sip of from a glass that appeared in front of him.  It looked like it might be wine.   
    
“Theodore.  I have heard through the grapevine that your father was gravely injured in a recent Death Eater attack on Muggle London.  I don’t know the specifics, but I wish him the best.”

Theodore paled.  He hadn’t heard anything, but he had known about a few attacks that may or may not been planned.  His father….  

“Now, I understand that it is possible that many of your parents are Death Eaters.”  He raised his hand to silence the inevitable shouts that came from such an accusation.  “No worries, I’m not here to judge you on your parents choices.  Know only this.  Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort is my enemy.  His terrorist actions are bad for business and I shall have nothing to do with any associate of his.  I shall be collecting on debts over the next year.  I shall be claiming lands and titles of any known Death Eater in my battle against this worm.  So, I ask you, who do you wish to follow.  A man who hides in fear of a boy or A man who can assure you long lasting wealth for the rest of your life.”  

Quatre stood “Good night, fellow Slytherins,” smirking as he walked out of the room.  


	12. Getting Along

Three weeks since that day and life at Hogwarts had almost become normal.  Well… as normal as things could be at Hogwarts at least.  Honestly, it sort of reminded Harry of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, what with all the new faces at school.  Classes were still classes, not much changed there.. Well except for History, that was an entirely new experience.  Wu Fei had become both the most popular and most hated professor in the entire school overnight.  The 1st and 2nd years and pretty much all the Ravenclaws loved him.  Everyone else hated him.  He was bristly, condescending, arrogant and at times violent.  He was not above using the house points system to his advantage and the worst part about it all, he was always right.  Arguing with him was impossible.. It was so bad that it had become a game to some of the smarter students.  Pick a fight with Chang-Sifu and see if you could win.  Even the professor was in on it.  He’d already promised a whopping 50 points to any student that could beat him in a discussion of logic.  The downside was that he considered it a waste of time if you weren’t willing to put up as well.  It cost 1 house point to get him to agree to any such discussion during class time, the only time he would condone such ‘lessons.’ So far, Gryffindor had lost 10, all to Hermione.  Ravenclaw had lost 20, and Slytherin had lost 12.  Hufflepuff seemed the smartest of the lot by staying out of it, but rumor had it they were just waiting for the right time to strike, minimal loss and possibly the best gain.

Harry couldn’t help but chuckle.  Watching the chinese professor had taught him a thing or two about the man.  First, to him honor was everything and second, that in class, everything was a lesson.  These challenges were clearly an attack on his Honor.  That he, as a teacher, didn’t know his snuff.  However, at the same time, after each and every 10 minute discussion, Harry ended up learning something new.  Something he might not have ever even considered.  He also thought it was pretty amusing, how the house point totals weren’t dropping from these arguments as quickly as he might have expected.  Wu Fei was a harsh taskmaster, don’t get him wrong.  That first week, half the school had lost 5 points from sleeping in his class.   He hadn’t even bothered to wake them up, Simply announced “5 points for sleeping” then glared at the rest of the class “5 points more if someone wakes him.  If Mr McCormack does not desire to learn, then far be it from us to bother him.  He will simply fail this class and drop his house to the bottom of the rankings.”  After that… well it had taken only 2 days and a total of 120 house points combined between 3 houses for everyone to realize, History no longer meant nap time.

Harry had been sure he’d have been sacked for his vicious approach, but he hadn’t.   It had been Ron of all people to point it out.  Ron who had been keeping a close eye on house points when he’d realized that Wu Fei had been handing out points like crazy to the younger years.  Apparently, to the 1st and 2nd years, in an approach to make history more interesting, he’d both been doing interactive lectures and awarding points for correct answers and logical thinking.  The only real downside to his presence as a whole was that Ravenclaw was in the lead and no one could even claim favoritism, because they were in the lead for both total house points and points taken by Wu Fei, he was actually harsher on his own house.  Apparently, for them, wrong answers cost the house a point, wether the question pertained to history or not.

***

Heero and Trowa had come in with a much softer approach.  While Wu Fei had been making friends and enemies from the first day, the two silent lions hadn’t made anything the first week.  Of course, people had tried.  They’d approached Lord Black with all sorts of attempts to befriend him, they approached Trowa, the slightly more approachable of the two, with questions and gifts and friendly smiles.  Neither of the two had responded much at all.  They’d spoken briefly, turned away any and all gifts and kept to themselves.  

It had been almost the entire week before people really figured out what made those two tick.  Trowa was the easy one, animals.  He’d had a soft spot for animals of all kinds and did amazingly well at Care for Magical Creatures.  So well in fact, that people had started approaching him for tips in surviving class.  Once they’d breached that gates, it turned out Trowa was surprisingly chatty about the right subjects.  Surprisingly, sports was another.  

A quidditch match had been put together, Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor.  Gryffindor was 2 short and Neville of all people had walked right over to Trowa and asked if he would have liked to join them.  Everyone expected the boy to turn the cold shoulder, ignore him outright or worse, glare at him the way Lord Black tended to when he was ignored.  To everyone’s surprise though, Trowa had smiled and nodded with a quiet “Sure.”

Neville had grinned “Awesome, we just need one more” which had prompted Trowa to ask Heero which had prompted Duo to invite Quatre to come join.  By the end of it a small tournament had ended up happening when Quatre showed interest in playing.  

By the end of the first game between the Gryffs and the Puffs as Duo had put it, Everyone had gotten to know Heero and Trowa much better.  The two were very serious competitors and had surprised everyone with how incredibly Crazy they flew.  Heero would pull of the most incredible stunts, the kind that made Wronski Feints look like child’s play.  Trowa… well Trowa had spent more time off his broom than he spent on.  It turned out that trapeze training translated very well to playing quidditch and the first time he’d leapt off his broom to intercept a pass, well, the game had stopped in a halt as everyone stared, right up until he landed on his broom again and Heero was already whizzing past to score a goal on the far side of the pitch.  Trowa hadn’t even bothered to catch the ball, he’d kicked it towards a speeding lord black who’d caught the ball and kept going.

After the end of the small three game tournament though, Quatre had suggested something even more outrageous.  Something that would never had worked without someone like him bringing it up in the first place.   A mixed house game between two teams made up of the school’s best players.  Lord Black would head one team and Lord Malfoy would head the other.  At first everyone had looked at Quatre like he’d grown a second head, then Wu Fei had agreed that it would be a fantastic idea and the winners would earn points for their house and suddenly the prospect of being on a team with Draco had suddenly become a lot more promising to Ron.  Harry wasn’t entirely sure if such an alliance was even possible, but he honestly was eager to see the results.  He hadn’t gotten to see either Quatre or Duo play, but he had a feeling their team would be even more terrifying than Lord Black’s and Trowa’s.

***

Duo and Quatre, unlike the rest of the mad five, a name that sent Duo into a fit of giggles the first time he’d heard it, had been the polar opposite of the rest of them.  Duo was talkative, friendly, snarky and eager to befriend everyone.  He’d become fast friend with the entire house of Gryffindor by the end of the second day and by the end of the first week, he was well liked in most houses.  His only real nemesis was Professor Snape, who it seemed had entered a terrifying war with the boy.  

The four of them who were students had each paired up with a Professor to study under and had ended up helping out in class.  Heero was working with McGonagall, Trowa with Flitwick and Quatre with Vector.  Duo, of course, had ended up with Snape.  The two paired surprisingly well as teacher and assistant.  Class was fun, if only to watch the amount of verbal sparring that happened between the two all throughout class, without actually interrupting class at all. 

Snape would assign potions to Duo at the beginning of class while he discussed whatever the lesson of the day was for Defense.  Snape would then expect Duo to both focus on his potions work and help out in class discussion and the two would trade barbs the entire time.  Finally, Snape would check the potion at the end of class.  It turned out that Duo was brilliant at potions.

His potions almost always had something to do with the lesson as well.  It had so far been incredibly fulfilling classwise.  The war however was pranking of all things.  Duo, it turned out, was a notorious prankster at heart and had booby trapped the classroom.  No one was safe, not even Snape… especially Snape.  Snape actually tolerated it, though what was scarier, it seemed he had taken the challenge and was fighting back in a terrifying, Snape-like manner.  

So far it was 2 to 2.  Snape had dealt with Pink hair and shrunken clothing, Duo had been hit by a gender changing potion and 2 transformations in a surprisingly emotive bunny.  It was 2 to 2 because Duo had dealt with being a girl surprisingly well, so it didn’t count as a loss for him.

Harry was worried that Snape would get more aggressive with his counter attacks by the end of the year, but Duo assured him they were bonding over mutual hatred and by the end of the year Snape and Him would be a tag team of terror, focusing their Dastardly Duo-ness on the unsuspecting students of Hogwarts.  Harry laughed at the idea, then suddenly realized that if it were true, he would be the first victim.

***

Quatre was probably the most surprising of the five though.  Not because he was making friends quickly, but because he was making friends quickly with everyone.  The first day people had snubbed him because he was a Slytherin.  That had been the only time it had happened. It had been lunch time and he had Asked, ever so politely, to sit with the Gryffindors for lunch.  He’d wanted to sit with his friends and discuss politics with some of his new fellow students.  Seamus had told him in no uncertain terms that they didn’t socialize with slimy backstabbing snakes.  

Heero had narrowed his eyes, Trowa had almost growled, but before any blood was shed, Quatre had diffused the situation by sitting down anyway. “No one’s asking you to speak with me if you don’t want to Mr. Finnigan, however should you decide otherwise, I would love to discuss the current socio-political climate with you”

Seamus had snapped shut as Quatre then introduced himself to the rest of the table and started a friendly round of discussion about Hogwarts, the houses, quidditch and just about anything else.  He’d been so polite, so friendly, so involving that by the end of lunch, no one seemed to even notice that he was wearing green and silver, not even Seamus Finnigan.  

The next day he’d joined Wu Fei for lunch with the ravenclaws and the next he’d sat with the Hufflepuffs.  By the end of the first week, he’d befriended so many people that it was hard at times as thinking of Quatre as belonging to any one house.  Everyone liked him, everyone respected him and he could always been seen in a group of at least 10 people, made up of all the houses.  Draco was rarely far from his side, and surprisingly, being cordial with everyone and Quatre made a habit of having social parties outside that anyone who wanted to join could join.  

By the end of the second week, the slug club had been a thing of the past.  A thing, sorely noted by professor Slughorn, as it had been quickly replaced by Winner’s Weekly Tea,  Quatre had gotten permission from the teachers to set up some tables outside and hosted tea and pastries along with political discourse.  They talked about everything from blood supremacy to the top wizards of witch weekly, all without shedding any blood.  

Harry wasn’t sure how the blonde had managed it, but he’d somehow brought the subject that Voldemort was fighting for to the table between all four houses and made it a topic of friendly discourse.  He wasn’t sure to how much success, but he hadn’t been attacked yet and there were far fewer Gryffindor/Slytherin spats these days.  If you wanted to say something, you could just go to Tea, say whatever you wanted and no one could do anything about it.  Of course, that meant everyone else could also have their turn at the podium and in the end, if you wanted to come back, you had to either change your opinion or agree to disagree.    

***

Lastly, of course, all five of them lived at the school.  They ate, slept and breathed school, but Death Eater attacks kept happening and Death Eaters kept falling.  Harry knew that Heero and the others were doing more than just socializing.  Somehow they were getting out and actually fighting, but he didn’t know how.  Somehow, they were fooling even the map.  One moment they’d been in the dorms, preparing for bed, the next they weren’t.  By the next morning, they’d be back, acting like nothing had happened.  The daily prophet had shown otherwise though.  Every time a Death Eater showed up on the front page, it was because he or she had been turned in with a broken wand or found in their home, dead.

Someone was hunting prominent Death Eaters and slowly taking them down.  It hadn’t slowed Riddle down at all, it seemed to spur him on, but his raids were getting sloppy.  Harry could tell, the man was getting frustrated.  Enough so that Harry could tell.  Something big was coming, soon.

He was eating breakfast and looking at the paper as he considered everything that had been happening all week.  Who to join for the Quidditch game coming up, what to do about Slughorn and how he should feel about his possible brother possibly murdering Death Eaters in their homes. 

An owl swooped by and dropped a letter in his lap.  He picked it up, looking at the sender.

The letter head read: Remus Lupin.


	13. Haunted Houses

The letter was brief, only a few words, but Harry knew exactly what it meant.

1109, Wolves Den

A Hogsmeade weekend was fast approaching, Harry grinned looking at Ron and Hermione. 

 “Fancy a trip to the Shrieking Shack?”

Ron looked over at Harry, a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth.  “Sure.. what for?”

“Ronald!  Finish eating first”  

Ron gobbled down the rest of his toast, rolling his eyes at Hermione.

She laughed, looking over at Harry.  “What’s this about anyway.  What’s going on?”

“Lupin wants to meet.”  he handed over the note.  

“It must be serious if he wants to meet in secret, this has the feel of a marauder all over it.”

She handed the note back to Harry.

“I wrote him about Trowa as soon as I found out.  Supposedly he knows something.  At least that’s what Trowa said.”

Ron grinned.  “What? He spoke!”

“Ronald!”  Hermione slapped him upside the head.  

“What.. it’s true.  Sometimes i think he might just be mute.”

“Still..”  she wouldn’t disagree.  Of all the boys, he had turned out to be the least talkative, at first.    
It had taken her a while to realize that Heero actually spoke volumes, just not verbally.  He had ‘looks.’  When she’d approached Duo to ask, he’d gone into detail at length about learning to speak what he called ‘Heero-eeze.’  After watching him interact with others though, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before.  Heero was extremely expressive.  A few gestures, a glance or a stare told volumes.  She suspected it was his presence that stopped people from realizing this.  He was so intimidating, most people avoided his gaze and ended up missing most of what he was trying to say.

Trowa, on the other hand, who spoke only slightly more than Heero, had no presence at all and was impossible to read.  So while Ron’s comment was tactless, it was also fairly accurate.  She was trying to trust them.  Really she was, and so far she was beginning to, slowly but surely.  After all, three of them had been Gryffindor and the hat was rarely wrong after all… some would argue, the hat including, that it was never wrong.  She also positively adored Chang-Sifu.  He had taken a completely worthless class and turned it upside down.  He was arrogant, rude, at times violent and she worried he was a bit sexist, but she had learned more from his class in three weeks, than she had with Binns in 5 years.   She could easily ignore all his faults for that alone.     Honestly, only Quatre, who had been sorted as Slytherin, was the one she had the most trouble with.  He was incredibly friendly, so easy to like that it was almost worrisome and that just troubled her.  She couldn’t find anything wrong with him and that was huge.  It was like he was perfect.  There was just something about him that told her, he wasn’t to be trusted and it wasn’t just his sorting.

She was just worried.  Maybe Professor Lupin could clear up some of the mystery behind Trowa Barton.  If he actually did turn out to be Harry’s brother.. Well it would open one door, but reveal several more.  Where had he been all this time.  Why hadn’t he been placed with Harry..  Or better yet, why hadn’t he and Harry been placed with wizards.  If he was Harry’s blood sibling, then the wards that Harry’s aunt had to power would have been powered by Trowa as well.  Harry could have grown up in a much better situation, so why hadn’t he.  Why was he showing up just now.  Even if it was true, it was still terribly convenient.

Dammit.. She growled in frustration to herself.  She had to stop overthinking it, she was only making things worse.  That’s it.  She’d give them a chance and see.  After all, they hadn’t done anything bad yet..  And anyone who had friends who loved to read couldn’t be all bad.  
***  
“Ooo… whatdya thinks going on with tha trio”

Heero smirked as he continued to watch the three teens huddle up and try, unsuccessfully, to have a private conversation in the middle of breakfast.  It was a shame for them that he could read lips.

“They’re going to some place called ‘The Shrieking Shack’ for halloween.”

“Ooo, yea, I saw that place last week,  pretty awesome.  There’s a secret tunnel at that crazy tree Tro likes so much.”

“Should I even ask?”  Heero looked at Duo.

“What… I was bored… well, not bored really, this place is so huge, it’s hard to get bored. Mapping out all the secrets is gonna take months..  Anywho, there’s this room on the seventh floor that has a map of the whole castle.  Like, a crazy awesome, moving, self updating, almost sentient map.  I’ve been using it to explore this crazy place.  Found it my first night here.”

“And you didn’t mention it beforehand”  Heero glared at him.

Duo grinned, sheepishly, and shrugged his shoulders.  “Want me to follow and find out what’s up?”  
Heero nodded.  “It might be best.  Harry still doesn’t trust us completely. I don’t want him acting rashly on bad information.”  He was quiet for a moment, remembering his own experience with that.

Duo grinned, nodding. “What’re you two planning to do?”

“Practicing to beat your ass at Quidditch”  Heero smirked.

Duo snickered.  “You’re gonna have to.  Quatre’s already picked his full line up.  If he manages to convince them to play, y’all won’t stand a chance in hell.”

Heero grinned.  “Challenge accepted”  
***  
Harry, Ron and Hermione had been in the shrieking shack for only a few minutes when they heard the howl.

They all suddenly looked at the entranceway to see Lupin the wolf growling at them menacingly.  
Before they could react though, laughter could be heard from somewhere in the shadows as Remus lupin stepped out.

“Aww, you ruined all the fun.”  Tonks said as Werewolf lupin turned pink, then shifted back into Tonks, still sporting a bit of pink hair.  “Watcher Potter, shoulda seen the look on yer face”

Remus chuckled.  “I told you we shouldn’t have done it..  It was a cruel joke.”

Tonks grinned, conspiratorially.  He hadn’t stopped her though. 

“Good to see you Harry.”  Remus walked over slowly.  The full moon was fast coming and he was a bit achey because of it.  The wolf was eager to get out, which always aggravated his own, aging body.  He hugged Harry before taking a seat, Tonks moving to stand behind him.  
Harry, Ron and Hermione smiled and waved to Tonks and greeting their favorite defense Professor before joining him.

“So..  do you know anything about Trowa?”

Remus seemed thoughtful, leaning against one of his hands as he thought. “Trowa Barton.. No, I can’t say I know anything about Trowa Barton.  However, I know quite a bit about a boy named Triton Bloom.  I couldn’t say if this Trowa is the same person, but if he is, then Trowa is, in fact your older half-brother.”

“What!”  Harry stood up.  He thought he was prepared to hear it, but now that it was coming from a source he really trusted, it was as upsetting as when Trowa had told him.

“Calm down.. Calm down”  he raised his hands to wave the boy off briefly.  “It’s a bit of a story, and no one’s business but yours.  Which is why I asked to meet here. "

He looked up at Tonks. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

She pouted. 

"The Oath I took will allow me to tell Harry and his closest only"

Harry shook his head. "it's ok. I trust her, she can stay"

Remus nodded, feeling a weight lift. Already the pressure of talking about the subject infront of Tonks was heavy enough, but with Harry's permission, it immediately lifted. Lily had been the brightest witch of her age, to include a clause to let an unborn child control the oath so effectively.  
He chuckled. "Lily was making everyone swear oaths that year, what with Voldemort being around and her only baby boy being with someone else.  You hadn’t been born yet, you see.  I don’t know if Lily and James were even thinking about kids at the time and poor lil Triton had to suffer from overprotective Lily syndrome.”

Harry nodded, urging the professor to continue.

“So… to explain it better, I have to go back to our school years.  As you know, Your father and I and Sirius and Peter were all the closest of friends and Lily joined our group around 5th or 6th year and we were all pretty inseparable.  What you need to know, what is often ignored, was that Lily was a very attractive, very popular girl.  She had lots of friends, other than the Marauders, some of them male.  She’d dated a boy or two and by the time we graduated, had a few very close friends.  One of them was a Hufflepuff named Harold Bloom.”

Tonks pipped up.  “I remember readin about him.”

Remus nodded.  “Back in school, he really wasn’t much of anything.  Just another nameless face in the crowd.  I only knew him because he and Lily were good friends.  I suspect they had dated briefly and ended on good terms, but Lily never said.  After he graduated, he did well for himself as an auror for a little bit before he married a muggle and disappeared.  Rumors say he joined the unspeakables, though, that’s as much information as you’ll ever get when it comes to them.  Anyway, he married a muggle and ended up having a little girl.”

He stopped for a moment to have a sip of water and take a breath while Harry and the others digested the story, then continued.

“I suspect that would have been the last we had ever heard of them, but Harold and his wife ended up catching Dragonpox.  They got lucky.. As the disease is often fatal, specially to muggles.  Both survived, however poor Mary Bloom was left unable to have children.  I don’t know the exact specifics, but Harold approached Lily and asked if she would help them conceive a second child.”  
Harry frowned, confused and Ron looked upset, but Hermione pipped in.  “In vitro”

Remus nodded.  “Yes.. well that’s the muggle method.  Wizards have been doing it for years, though Pure Bloods rarely need to.  The ritual is questionly labeled as dark too, so it isn’t spoken about.”

“How come?”  Hermione asked, interest peaked about new information.

“Any magic where blood use is involved is generally automatically labeled dark.  In the case of this particular rituation, The blood of Harold and Lily are combined in a potion.  Lily drinks and the results are a child.  It’s pretty ancient druidic magic, even I had to look it up.”  he smiked.

“So, of course, Lily jumped at the chance at helping her good friend.  She carried the baby to term and then Harold and Mary took custody a few weeks after it was born.  You were born five years later.  I honestly only met Triton a few times, he was a quiet child, but he had his mothers eyes.  They rest of him looked like Harold.  When Voldemort struck and your parents went into hiding, Lily made everyone that knew take Unbreakable Oaths to protect Triton’s identity.  I can only talk about him now because telling any potential children of hers and James was included in the oath.”

Harry nodded.  “So..  If no one could talk about him and Voldemort didn’t know about him, why didn’t we grow up together.  Why didn’t Harold and Mary raise me, instead of the Dursleys?”  
Remus frowned and grew silent.  It was a moment before he answered.  “Because they’re all dead.  Lily never found out, it happened while she was in hiding, but Harold and his family were heading to france and were attacked by Death Eaters.  Catherine, the older sister was the only survivor.  Dumbledore confirmed it himself.  I saw his memories.  Triton was dead.  Catherine was put into foster care.  You and her weren’t as closely related as you and Petunia.

He frowned, silent.  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.  I didn’t want to give you anyone else to grieve for.”

Harry nodded. “It’s ok, but if he really did die, then who is Trowa.”

Remus shook his head.  “I don’t know.  It’s impossible for him to know. The only way for him to have known is if one of us who already knew told him and that's not possible. Only Lily, James, myself, Sirius, Peter and Dumbledore knew. If Peter had told Voldemort, then he wouldn't still be alive. And Bellatrix killed Sirius, so he didn't tell. No, theres no way than anyone who took the oath told him."

Harry nodded.  “It seems…”

Remus lifted his hand.  “Are you sure no one followed you?”

Harry nodded.  “Yea, we used the cloak and everything”

Remus stood, turned around, sniffing the air.  “Because we’re not alone”

Duo grinned as he stepped out of the shadows.  “Damn… caught.  Didn’t think you’d smell me”  
Remus chuckled, drawing his wand and pointing it at the braided boy.  He tapped his nose.  “Yea, it’s more sensitive than you’d think.  Who are you?”

Harry rushed to put a hand on Remus.  “Don’t..  That’s Duo.”  He narrowed his eyes at the boy.  “Duo… why are you here.. This is private.”  

Duo grinned “yea yea..  Hee-chan was worried you might be plotting something reckless.  Didn’t want any a ya gettin hurt.”

Remus grinned, liking the intruder already.  “He’s got you pegged to a T Harry”

“More importantly, Mister Wolfman, shouldn’t you be worryin about dying and whatnot. You just broke yer oath, tellin me something you promised not to.”

Remus gasped.  It was true.  If the boy had been there the whole time.  The magic wouldn’t care that it was unintentional.  He had broken the oath..  He was done for… “why am I not dead?”

Duo grinned.  “Cause you didn’t tell me something I didn’t know.  If I already knew who Triton was, then the oath wouldna apply to me”

Harry stared at Duo.  “You mean..”

“Trowa’s birth name is Triton Bloom."


	14. Goblin Business

The news still had Harry reeling a week later.  He’d already known, well they’d made the claim so it had time to sink in, but Harry suspected he’d been waiting for the claim to be proven false.  When Remus and Duo had proven otherwise, the truth had floored Harry.  He had family; real, proper family.  Not like the Dursleys who could barely tolerate him and had been counting the days when he could leave.  No, Triton.. Or Trowa as he’d been going by, was his brother.  Technically a half-brother, but Duo had been quick to explain that halfsies or wholes didn’t matter to them, he was Trowa’s brother and that made him a brother to each of them in their eyes.  Trowa had expressed a desire to maintain a familiar relationship with Harry after all this was over too, which made things even better. Part of him had immediately assumed they would not have wanted him around.  The part that still thought of himself as freak, a part that was well hidden, but had been made permanent through years of abuse under the hands of Vernon Dursley.  
That’s what had brought him to Gringotts this weekend.  He’d been discussing family with Hermione and she’d asked him if Trowa was legally, by magical britain’s laws, actually his brother.  If he wanted to live with Trowa this summer, it might have been important.  From the story Remus has given, she suspected he wasn’t.  So Harry had spoken briefly with Trowa, asking him if he’d like to be adopted into the family legally.  It hadn’t seemed to matter to him, but Quatre had expressed a need to visit the goblins anyway, so it gave them all a reason to go.  
Quatre and Draco had disappeared into a room with a goblin some 20 minutes ago, leaving the four of them alone, but that hadn't lasted long.  Duo had dragged Heero out of the bank, exclaiming it ‘a complete waste of a good day,’ leaving only Harry and Trowa.  It wasn’t much longer before griphook was summoned and they were brought into a small, private room.   
The process was surprisingly shorter than Harry had expected.  It felt like the goblins enjoyed making Wizards wait, bureaucracy seemed to come natural to them, so when Griphook had drawn up the papers so quickly, Harry was honestly surprised.    
“This really isn’t necessary Harry.  I don’t care about the money or any of that, knowing we’re family is good enough for me.”  
Harry smiled.  “I want to agree, but Hermione is right.  Even though we’re related by blood, you’re not a Potter.  It will matter, eventually, to too many important people.  I don’t want to give them a leg to stand on.”  
Griphook slipped the paper over to Harry, along with a very small, very sharp knife.  “You’re signature and a drop of blood.”    
Harry nodded, picking up a quill to sign before pricking his finger to leave a thumbprint beside his name.    
Trowa followed, signing under him and lastly Griphook signed as a witness.  
“I’d like to create a vault for Trowa now and get him a familial ring”  
The goblin nodded, pulling out more papers… lots of them.  Of course it would take more paper when gold was involved.  Trowa could only smirk, but Harry wouldn’t be deterred. They would probably be in here all day, from the looks of it.    
***  
Quatre smiled pleasantly at the goblin as he sipped on some tea.  It had a strange taste, but Quatre had to admit, goblin tea was rather addictive.  “So then, I trust all the documents have been prepared.”  
The goblin grinned, nodding as he began placing several documents on the table.    
“Wonderful, I appreciate the extra work the goblin nation has put into hastening this process.”  
“The goblin nation is most appreciative at the timely return of our lost treasures, we are in debt to the winner family”  
Quatre smiled and nodded.  “Your debt is paid in full, this should cover it.  I need to speak with my cousin in private.  We’ll ring for you when we’re prepared to finalize everything”  
The goblin nodded and left.  Draco looked up at Quatre curiously.  “What is he talking about?”  
“Well, as you know, goblin made items are quite powerful.  What many wizards don’t seem to understand is how goblin’s view property ownership.  Several of my recently acquired estates contained several goblin-made items.  I returned them to the goblin nation because I had no use for them.  I’m certain the Zabini’s won’t be missing any of those old, dusty items after all.”  
Suddenly, things were starting to make sense.  Blaise’s mother, a famed 5 time widower, was quite well known for being very independent. She hadn’t taken the mark, but had otherwise financially supported Voldemort in his cause.  According to Blaise, she had firmly told him to ignore the new Lord Malfoy as she would not support a muggle lover.  However, the truth of the matter was, even she had owed favors to Lucius Malfoy, and now Quatre.  It seemed this was one of those ways the blonde was punishing those who didn’t fall under sway, by slowly destroying that which made them powerful, their wealth.    
“Happy goblins are efficient goblins,” Quatre chuckled.  He’d killed two birds with one stone after all.  Striking at the arrogant wizards and making good terms with the goblins.  “So then, I know you’re curious as to why I brought you here on your weekend.  I wanted to ensure I had someone I could trust handling things once I return to the muggle world, after all this is over.”  
Draco immediately perked up.    
“I’m going to name you Regent of all Malfoy Properties, able to make financial decisions in my name.  Clearly, I will have the final say should you try to do anything I deem inappropriate, but I don’t suspect that will be a problem, will it Draco?”  
“N..no  O.. of course not!” Draco was so excited he was stuttering.  If Quatre was serious, he was about to make Draco one of the most influential wizards in Britain.  
“I can control them by fear, but that will only make me another Voldemort.  I do not wish to control wizarding britain the way Tom Riddle is trying to do so.  They are your friends, even if you don’t realize it.  There’s more to them than just money and power.  I’ve seen it, I’ve felt it.  When all is said and done, they will follow you and you have the potential to lead the purebloods into a bright, peaceful future.  I have faith you will help me in this”  
Quatre knew just what to say.  Draco couldn’t tell if he was being honest or if he was just playing him, but it didn’t matter.  They were both Slytherin’s in the end.  They both wanted power.  Quatre had it and was just creating another pawn.  Like he said, ‘A happy goblin is an efficient goblin.’  Draco suddenly realized that applied to so much more.  Quatre was giving Draco exactly what he wanted, which would make him happy, and efficient.  He would be Quatre’s pawn, willingly, and he didn’t even care.  
“Now then, let's start going over it all.”  He pulled out the first of many properties.  “I’m quite partial to this house in Wales, so I think I’m going to keep it for myself.  If you would tell the Goyles they have by the end of the year to vacate, I’ll call their debt paid.  Are there any properties you are think you might like for yourself?”  
Draco grinned and stood, looking down at the properties.  His eyes immediately zoned in on a Flint Property.  Remembering the beating Tobias and his thugs had given him a few weeks ago, he grinned wide.  
***  
Heero rolled his eyes.  They’d already covered all of Knockturn alley.  Duo had insisted they check it out first.  He’d purchased a few items that looked like they’d be worth a second glance, but otherwise suspected they could find better armaments in the US.  Now Duo had his eyes set on Magical Menagerie.  Heero had sternly told him ‘We’re looking, not buying,’ but he feared that wouldn’t stop Duo from adopting a series of highly dangerous magical animals to loose on the school they suddenly called home.  Duo got along with Hagrid almost as much as Trowa did, the thought still terrified Heero sometimes.    
As they approached, Heero had seen the ice cream shop, the line much shorter than when they’d arrived and yanked Duo by his collar towards the shop.  “Hey…OOo.. How’d you know”  Duo’s attention was easily averted, especially when ice cream was involved.  
They stood behind a nice enough couple.  A redhead and a smaller black haired boy, making friendly small talk.  Heero got a simple vanilla, Duo a quadruple scoop of Chocolate, Mint, Strawberry and Cherry.  Heero rolled his eyes again, smirking at the boy as they sat and ate.  
“Are you going to be up for tonight, with all that in you”  
Duo grinned and stuck his tongue out.  “Nothing helps with night work better than sugar.. Well maybe a pet squirrel or something”  
Heero scowled.  Damn, there’d be no deterring him.  
Heero pulled out a scroll as they ate and went over the plans.  “Sources put him in this house 2 days ago.  We’ll strike tonight while Quatre and Trowa are dealing with the Order.”  
Duo nodded and grinned.  He couldn’t wait to meet Riddle.       


	15. Flight from Death

Heero and Duo were standing on a hill overlooking a large house that was surrounded by an even larger cemetery.  The house of Little Hangleton would have made a good hiding spot for Voldemort if his people understood the concept of hiding.  As much as they knew about Voldemort, far more than the man would have liked, they hadn’t known anything about his parentage.  Not until Little Hangleton had come onto their radar.  It had been Zechs that had come to them asking if they could look into a series of unexplained murders in the village.  Once they’d arrived at the first scene, they knew immediately the culprit.  Another week of research and a few stakeouts led them to this house, the current hideout of one cult of the eaters of death.  Heero put a hand to his right ear.  “Wind, Fire do you have visuals?”

A buzz came from the coms and Fire’s soft voice came the the line.  “Can’t see into the house at all, Magic’s blocking scans completely, but we have your heat signatures”

“That’s fine. The rounds should still penetrate the walls no problem.”

“Are you sure about this Zero-One, won’t this attack warrant retaliation.”

“It’s well within Zero’s parameters.  It will show us the true scope of their loyalty as well. As long as he wages a shadow war, the government will continue to do nothing.  Zero shows a 80% success rate if we draw him into open war now.”

There was a sigh, but no argument was made.

Heero and Duo crossed the gates into the cemetery, feeling magic pass over them.

“They’ll know we’re here then.”  Duo grinned.

“Stealth yourself and make your way to Riddle.  I’ll deal with the rest”

Duo nodded and vanished into the darkness.  Heero drew his wand in one hand and a pistol in the other.  The revolver left him only six shots, but older tech worked better in high magic environments, besides no matter of shielding magic would stop these bullets and he had two speed loaders in reserve.  He doubted he would need all 18 shots.

Six pops heralded the arrival of his welcoming party.  Six robed figures all with golden skull masks and wands pointing at him.  

“Lord Black, what a pleasant surprise.  Come to bend the knee to the Dark Lord?”

Heero chuckled.  Not subtle at all, were they?

“I’ve come to negotiate the surrender of the Dark Lord and all Death Eaters.  Surrender now and no one will have to die.”

One of the Death Eater’s began to cackle, Heero recognized her immediately, Bellatrix Lestrange.  He grinned.  “Changes of plans, Initiate plan Delta Seven.  Seven Degrees to my left.”  

The Death eaters all thrust wands forward, casting a variety of spells at the stranger, but Heero ducked, dodging them all.  A loud band rang out from the distance and one of the Death Eater’s head’s exploded into a mass of blood and gore.

“WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK!”  Shouted a man, the frenzy continued, Heero dodging spells and firing back at them with both wand and gun.  He aimed for hands or more specifically wands, with terrifying accuracy.  Two more loud bangs from the distance obliterated 2 Death Eater’s who had apparated in to help their allies, only to die instantly from unseen sniper rounds.  Heero aimed and fired his last bullet, hearing bellatrix cry out as her thumb fell to the ground along with her wand, shattered from the hollow-point that ripped through bone and wood alike. 

Before Bella knew what was happening, the brown haired teen was approaching her, his wand and muggle weapon gone, but so was her wand.  She drew a hidden knife and slashed at his throat, but be blocked the attack and flipped her onto her back, rolling her onto her belly and tied her hands together uncomfortably tight. Casting a quick incendio on her injury to keep her from bleeding out. It wouldn't do for her to die before they could question her.

“The Dark Lord will save me… you will pay for this you filthy Blood Traitor.”

“I hope so”  he grinned, lifting her over his shoulder and started walking out of the cemetery.  

***

Voldemort was growling as he waited to hear a report about what was going on outside.  His faithful spy, Severus stood at his side and several of his minions were just outside the room.  

“What is taking so long?”

“I do not know, my Lord.  Bella is probably playing with her food, like always”

“Yes, most likely.”  Voldemort reached down and ran a hand over Nagini.  “I shall enjoy torturing whoever thinks themselves so fool hardy as to approach us alone.”

Snape narrowed his eyes, just who had found the house, and how had they done it?  
He suspected he knew, but the thought worried him.

The doors burst open, but no one entered.  Voldemort stood, wand at the ready.  “I must congratulate you, whoever you are, to make it this far, but this is as far as you will go.  Reveal yourself and I shall end you painlessly?”

Snape narrowed his eyes,  he knew this presence.  He scowled.

Duo appeared with a shit eating grin before the two wizards.  “I must say Tom, the no nose thing isn't doing you any favors.”

Voldemort snarled and shot a green beam of light at the boy, but just before it hit, the boy collapsed into shadows.  Cackling could be heard just before a loud bang shot out from somewhere else in the room.  The bullet hit a shield of energy and ricocheted, hitting the ceiling.

“Don’t think your worthless muggle weapons will stop the great Lord Voldemort.”

Snape fired another stunner where the gunshot had originated, but when the red light lit up there darkness, no one was there.  He surveyed the room, he couldn’t see the boy he knew was watching them.

Voldemort summoned a golem of fire that snuffed out the darkness, Duo was caught with a smirk as he was creeping closer.

“You really are a great wizard, you sure you don’t wanna talk this over?”

Voldemort Laughed.  “I think not, Now time to..”

“Duo grinned.  Mark 12 degrees Right 2 degrees north.”  

Voldemort stared at the crazy boy looking confused until something slammed into his chest throwing him back, Pain erupting from his chest.  

Snape stared at the fallen Dark Lord.

Duo Cackled. Holding his left hand up. Another round shot into Voldemort as he stood, leaving the man bleeding profusely from wounds that rightly should have killed the man. Another shot rang out through thee building and Snape fell to the ground screaming in pain.

Duo cackled and grinned cheekily. 

Voldemort sneered, standing, blood running down his chest, but otherwise seemed unphased by the bullets.  He started tossing spells at Duo, who moved to the left and right, dodging spells tossed at him one after the other at speeds that shouldn’t have been possible.  His image seemed slow as he moved, leaving an after image behind where he once stood.

He reached into his pouch of goodies, drawing a phial and hurling it at the man, the room erupted into fire as the glass broke, breaking line of sight between the two.  

Duo fired several shots and finally he heard the popping sound of Apparition.

“You shall regret this boy.”

Duo laughed.  “Run away little man, flee from Shinigami before he catches you”

Voldemort snarled and vanished with a pop.

Duo Cackled again before drawing several more phials.  “Time to toast the place”  he grinned in Maniacal glee. 

Zechs and Noin watched from a hilltop on the far side of town as the building went up in flames.  Zech’s was putting up his sniper rifle.   “They’re fucking crazy”

Noin grinned.  “I know and you’re not joining them”

Zech’s pouted.

“Come on, we need to report”

Zech’s nodded and turned.  “Ready to go then”

Wu Fei nodded and the three vanished in a Pop.


	16. Zero - Part 1

Monday morning was starting out pretty normal, but as soon as Harry had his first real look around the great hall, his heart immediately plunged.  Heero, Duo and Wu Fei were all missing.  He looked up at Trowa with a quizzical look of ‘what’s going on?’  The brunette could only shrug as he scooped some eggs onto his fork.  “Probably out on a date”  he grinned.

“What!?  Lord Black and Maxwell?”  Seamus and Dean both exclaimed.  Trowa just shrugged again, but he was smirking a bit knowingly.  Harry rolled his eyes.  He can’t say he’d seen it, Heero was so incredibly quiet and withdrawn.  He never spoke unless spoken to and for the most part kept to himself or Trowa.  Duo was.. Well he was Duo.  The closest person Harry could compare him to was a combination of Fred and George OD'd on pepper-up potion.  Loud, outspoken, outgoing, at times obnoxious to the point of his friends threatening violence with him, including Heero.  He couldn’t see it, but then Hermione pipes up, “They do say opposites attract.”  Harry would have disagreed with her if it weren’t for Ron sitting right next to her and then he really couldn’t disagree at all.  Maybe it was true.

The doors burst open and Duo skipped inside.  “OMG Hee-chan.  You always pick the moooost romantic spots”  He twirled on the spot and trotted over to Gryffindor table.  That might have been the most interesting thing of the day if it weren’t for Heero walking in, holding a rope in his hands.  Behind him was Wu Fei, dressed in some strange muggle uniform, a gun trained on the third individual that was walking between them. Somehow, Bellatrix managed scary even while bound and gagged.  

Dumbledore stood up with fire in his eyes.  “What is going on.. This is most inappropriate, this is a school, not Azkaban.”

Heero nodded.  “Yes, I am aware headmaster.”

Wu Fei drew his wand and conjured a chair, forcing the witch down before conjuring more ropes to tie her down to it.  Holstering his gun, but leaving his wand trailed on her.  

“Heero looked up at Dumbledore.  If we were to bring her to the government, Voldemort would have her back in his ranks within a fortnight, or less.  She is most secure in the most secure place in Wizarding Britain.  We would like to use the dungeons to keep her until she can be tried and executed for crimes against humanity”

Dumbledore was speechless.  Mostly because he could only applaud the boy.  He was entirely right.  Bellatrix would be most secure here.  The dementors were on Tom’s side, the government still very corrupt and couldn’t be trusted to handle things properly.  “What do you plan to do with here now though.  We are having breakfast, there is no need to do anything unsightly”

Heero shook his head.  “We only wish to ask her a few questions then we shall escort her away.”

Duo leaned in and whispered softly.  “He means torture her”

Harry gasped, but narrowed his eyes as he looked at the woman who had killed his godfather.  He made to stand, but Duo kicked his shin from under the table.  “Later”

Harry gritted his teeth, but nodded.

Heero began with a few basic queries. “What are the Dark Lord’s plans?  How many are there in his ranks? Who in the government has been compromised? Where will the Dark Lord head next, now that his home has been destroyed.”

That last one had Dumbledore glancing to Snape.  The spy made no facial expressions though.

Several more questions and Heero seemed to consider the woman who was tied down.  He’d already asked her all of these questions, under far more extreme situations.  This was all for show after all.  He looked over at the Slytherin Table.  “This is pointless, she is too loyal.  She will not respond to questioning, even under duress”

Duo stood rather abruptly, looking over at Quatre with a look that could only be described as unabated terror.  He turned to look at Heero.  “Yanno… Heechan… that really ain’t necessary.  No need to expose everyone to Zero.. right..  Right?”

Quatre nodded and stood. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he turned to his fellow housemates.  “Excuse me one moment.  Do pay attention though”  His demeanor changed immediately and while everyone else at the table noticed it, not sure what i meant, Draco recognized it immediately.  That first night he’d played chess with Quatre.  He had been like this, but even then, it wasn’t so… visceral.   He’d only felt like this once before, his first time meeting Lord Voldemort.

Heero looked over to speak, but Quatre shook his head. Heero immediately moved to stand at attention, like a soldier addressing an immediate superior.  Only Zero could bring out this side of Heero anymore, a part of himself he worked hard to move away from, but Zero demanded absolute obedience and deserved it.  

Quatre strode over to the bound woman, smiling and tilting his head.  “My dear Bella.  Would you be so kind as to answer our questions please.”  His words, as polite as ever, held no emotion to them.  

Duo sat down and waited with bated breath.  Whispering softly.  “Shit’s about to hit the fan.”  
Everyone at the table looked at him like he was crazy.  What could winner do, he was easily the nicest person in the castle.  

She laughed.  “Pitiful, heirless dog.  The Dark Lord will kill you and your friends.  Do what you want, you will get nothing from me, I shall never betray my master”

Quatre nodded.  “Of course.  So be it.”  He reached over, caressing Bellatrix’s cheek and looked up, first at Dumbledore and then at the rest of the student body.  “We shall see how loyal you are, dear Bella.”  He placed a hand on her forehead, closing his eyes.  

At first, there was nothing as Bellatrix sat there, grinning like a loon.  Then a sleight tremble could be seen in her body, the tremble quickly turned into a terrible shaking, her body seizing up and her head was thrown back before she let out a terrible scream.  

Harry stared in shock, everyone stared in shock.  What was going on, what was he doing to her, he had cast no spells, used no potion, simply touched her.  The scream reverberated throughout the great hall and soon she was begging.. pleading...sobbing  “Please..  Please stop..”

Quatre could only quirk an eyebrow.  “Did you stop for Frank and Alice Longbottom… no, I think not.”  The screaming continued, her writhing so great that the chair tumbled to the side and she cringed on the ground, body spasming like she was under the cruciatus.  

Harry remembered her words ‘You need to mean them.’  He wanted to feel pity, but he just couldn’t.  She deserved this, she deserved every bit that she was getting.  He noticed Neville was standing, watching, and saw in the boys eyes a Hatred he never thought possible in the boy.

Finally, Dumbledore stood and bellowed “STOP!!”

Quatre only looked up at the man.  “Sit down and be quiet.”

And Dumbledore sat.

The entire hall was speechless.  Bellatrix had quieted, though her body still shivered.  Quatre looked down at her.   “Now then, speak”

And she started talking, obedient and broken, telling the great hall everything.

Quatre turned and walked out of the room. Trowa immediately stood and followed him out.

Moments later, Heero lifted the broken woman onto his shoulders and left as well.

The great hall erupted into noise, though the teacher’s table was eerily silent.  Dumbledore could only wonder, what had he invited into the school?  Had he made a deal with the devil?  And if so, why was he not immediately throwing them out?

***

Draco found his way outside.  He’d slipped out as soon as possible to search for his cousin.  He had to find out what had just happened.  When he arrived in the courtyard, Quatre was bent over, Trowa holding him while the boy sobbed quietly.  Draco was not surprised to see several Gryffindors staring at the boy.  Harry, Ron and Hermione.  What surprised Draco most though was Neville Longbottom, looking at the blonde with what looked like righteous fury.

“You…  you’re worse than her.”  Draco scoffed, why was the boy defending Bellatrix.  

Trowa glared at the boy, but didn’t move to make him leave.  Quatre turned to face Neville.

“Yes. I know.  I am, much worse.”

Draco frowned as he moved closer.

“What did you do to her?”  Neville asked.  

“I made her feel.”

“What.. I don’t understand.  What did you make her feel?”  The boy pressed on.  Draco was afraid of the answer.

Quatre frowned again.  “Everything.”

Draco finally moved forward.  “What was the point of all that.  You could have done that elsewhere, why the show.  Why make enemies of Dumbledore.  There’s no way he’s going to let you all stay now, not after that.”

Quatre looked up at Draco and smiled softly.  “He might turns us away, it would be his right and I wouldn’t hold it against him, but this is war.  War is cold and bloody and terrible.  War turns the best of us into monsters and until everyone realizes this, no one can harm Tom Riddle.  You see, Evil defines good.  Without evil, how do you know what is good.  Sometimes evil is necessary to save lives and if I must be a monster to save the lives of those I care about, then so be it.  Zero is the darkness within me, the darkness I hold at bay, that sometimes has to be let loose, for the greater good.”  He was quiet for a moment.  “I wonder, how many of your friends will join ranks with Lord Voldemort this Christmas when they go home or how many of them will urge their parents to end this bloody war.  How many realize that there is someone out there so much worse than He Who Must Not Be Named, waiting, watching.  I do not want war, I despise it.  I hold no grudge against wizards, pureblood or muggle born of half blood.  However, any who threaten the ones I love must be dealt with swiftly, harshly, immediately”  Quatre narrowed his eyes as he turned to look away from the group.  “For the greater good.”

Dumbledore stiffened, just a ways away, watching and listening.  That was meant for him.  He had a lot to think about now.  These boys were so much more dangerous than he suspected.  His immediate thought was to get rid of them, but, what if..  

Dumbledore turned and headed back inside.  


	17. Zero - Part 2

Quatre had left shortly after, followed by Trowa.  The two headed outside, towards the lake and Harry could see them moving past it towards the forbidden forest.  He supposed he could understand the need to be alone, after all that.  He didn’t know what to think though.  Out of all of them, Quatre had been the nicest, the kindest, the least likely to be someone comparable to Voldemort, but now he understood.  He looked at Hermione, “You were right, we can’t trust them.”

Hermione wanted to agree, wanted to shout that she'd been right all this time and this had vindicated her assumptions, but she didn't. Quatre's words rang through her mind and she couldn't help but wonder how much of what Quatre said was something that the entire wizarding world really needed to hear.  Ron, though, was more than vocal.  “Bloody Slytherins.  There’s the proof, they’re all dark, all of em.  Can’t be trusted at all.  Course he is a Malfoy.  Like I expected anything else.”

Draco, standing just a few feet away from the golden trio couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Were they all really this daft. How on earth did they plan on defeating the greatest dark lord to ever live, well, second greatest because clearly Quatre now outranked him, if they scorned every ally they met for not being perfect. Part of him wanted to just hurry off back to breakfast and let these three rot, but another part of him was boiling up to the surface, the part that was aching to tell all three of them what’s what.

“Do you prats even know what just happened. You’re all so bloody full of yourselves, I don’t even know how you manage to survive these days. I don’t see you going on about how dark the Weasley family is or the Prewitts.”

Ron went beat red with fury, wand drawn as he stormed over to hex Draco before he could even begin to insult his dead uncles. 

“Your grandmother Cedrella Weasley Black, Slytherin. Your aunt, Lucretia Prewitt Black, Slytherin, and a cunt if I might add. No one mentions her, do they.. Dark Lucretia, who liked to torture muggles… huh?”  

Ron was getting angrier by the minute, but surprisingly wasn’t casting any spells.

Draco sneered at the boy, secure in his superiority and the fact the he was right. “You too Potter! As if you think your family is blameless. Everyone know what James Potter was like as a boy, worse than any Slytherin from what I hear, and what of your Great Uncle Charlus?” He grinned, because it was likely Harry didn’t even know this. “I thought not. So why don’t you think for a moment before you go insulting us Slytherins. What do you think he just did in there?”

Harry pipped up. “Quatre tortured her… “ he didn’t want to admit he liked watching it. “She was wandless, helpless and he'd tortured her in front of everyone without batting an eyelash.”

“Yea, I bet she’s done worse… Oh wait, she has, hasn’t she Longbottom”

Neville was watching, quietly in the back. He made a sound when his parent’s torture was brought up, Draco thought it might have been a whimper since Neville was a worthless lump, but as he eyed the boy briefly, fists clenching tightly, he could see the rage in the boys eyes. Draco wasn't to admit that Neville scared him for a moment as he turned back to Harry.

“Quatre did the impossible. He broke Bellatrix Lestrange. She started giving up information more easily than if she’d been put on Veritaserum. I might think we know more about Tom Riddle than we might ever care to know. I think I’m going to have to curse my cousin for some of that imagery, thank you very much. If you think any of you can manage a similar feat, on your high horses, with your high morals, well I’d love to see you do it. Me, I’m gonna stick with the lesser of two evils. The one that won’t kill me for disagreeing with him, or mark me with dark magic to enforce obedience. I can deal with a cousin that’s willing to kill someone, so I don’t have to be a Death Eater, or you know, waste all year trying to kill Dumbledore.”

“What!” Harry, Ron and Hermione all exclaimed at once.

“Yea, didn’t expect that. My cousin saved me from a death sentence, of which I will be forever in his debt. The Dark Lord tasked me to kill Dumbledore by the end of the year as punishment for my Dad being utterly worthless. Thanks by the way. If I failed then Me, Dad and Mom all get it." 

He pointed his wand to his neck, slicing from side to side. 

"What a great Lord he is, fucking wanker, but now I don’t have to worry. Voldemort can’t touch me or my parents and if he tries, well he can fucking fight Quatre Winner all he wants. I think we both know who’s coming out of that fight ahead.”

Harry stood, dumbfounded as Draco spilled his guts in a speech that seemed like it had been bottled up for some time. He didn’t even know what to think any more, but it certainly had put Lord Malfoy into a completely new light.

“You know what, Fuck Voldemort, Fuck Dumbledore and Fuck all of you. Go ahead and try to defeat the Dark lord by yourselves, when you have someone far more capable at your disposal. All you Gryffindores really are fucking idiots.”

Ron slugged him. Harry thought he had it coming too, but, at the same time, he was right. They were being so stupid. He watched the brawl that had devolved. Draco and Ron weren’t even casting spells at this point. He smirked and then started laughing. He never thought he’d see the day where Draco sodding Malfoy would get in a fist fight with anyone. And, honestly, he was doing pretty good too, where had he learned to punch like that.

Hermione looked at Harry like he was crazy, then finally petrified both Ron and Draco. Separating the two before freeing them. 

“Come on Ronald, We have class.” She grabbed her boyfriend by the arm and yanked him away, before he and Draco actually did start hexing each other.

Neville had stayed silent, contemplative, the entire time and followed, leaving Harry and Draco alone.

Harry looked at Draco and nodded. “You’re right…. Tell Quatre I’m sorry”

Draco snorted as he turned to head towards the great hall. “Tell him yourself. You’re lot's supposed to be brave, right?”

***

It was a few days before Harry could manage to get Quatre alone. Classes had kept everyone busy and honestly, Harry wanted some time to think, but the longer he waited, the longer it nagged at him and finally Wednesday night had come and here he was, at the Slytherin Dungeons, knocking and waiting.

A first year opened the door, gave him a brief look before running back inside and closing the door behind him. Harry snorted, even the first years looked like they though you were dirt, it must be a skill taught on the first night. When the door opened itself again, Draco was there, looking annoyed. “Potter.”

“I wanted to talk to Quatre.”

“Yes, he said that was what you wanted. Follow me”

Draco led him inside, again. They headed up to the Slytherin’s boys dorms, just like last time. Quatre, it seemed, was sharing a room with Draco. The room had been expanded and an Additional bed added. Quatre was typing on a laptop.

“I’ll be right with you Harry,” he didn’t even look up as he continued to type.

“How is he?”

“I don’t even understand what it is, only that I want one.” Draco cut him off. 

“Christmas is coming up Draco. I’m sure if you ask Heero, he can build you one. Magic-proof Laptops are his specialty, not mine” Quatre smiled as he turned in his chair. “So, Harry, how can I help you. We have Hot Cocoa, would you like some?” Quatre stood, walking over to a tea pot and pouring a cup.

“Umm.. no.. I won’t be here that long”

Quatre smiled “suit yourself, Draco?”

“Yes, please” 

Quatre handed the Slytherin the cup, pouring himself some as well, before taking his seat again.   
“So, what’s up”

Draco let out a small moan of please. “Mmm.. sooo much better than House Elf Cocoa.” He grinned at Harry, clearly enjoying this. 

Harry shifted a bit, nervously.. “Well.. um.. I wanted to apologize. I said some things I shouldn’t have”

Quatre waved him off. “Water under the bridge. Don’t worry about it. I would be more worried if meeting Zero didn’t upset you. I completely understand and the fact that you're here proves that you deserve every bit of praise that your late godfather heaped upon you.”

Harry looked up, surprised. “You knew Sirius.”

“I met him, very briefly, during your third year at Hogwarts. One of my sisters knew him during his youth. He reached out, shortly after those events took place. They were, somewhat close, at some point I gather. Anyway, we spoke at length of many things, but unfortunately I was not in a place to help him at the time. I wish I could have done more, really. Anyway, he spoke very highly of you.” He smiled. 

Harry nodded, silent for a moment as he was suddenly reminded of very many unpleasant memories. Finally though he looked up at Quatre, asking the question Draco had been wanting to ask this whole time, but was much too afraid to learn the answer to.

“Um.. Quatre.. What is Zero?”

He considered for a moment as he sat there and drank his Cocoa. He was glad he had already removed any portraits in the room, as casting any warding magic in front of them would only serve to alarm the headmaster that he was about to divulge intelligence he didn’t want the man to know.  He cast the spells anyway, but it was far less likely the house elves would rat him out.

“Do sit, this will take a bit.”

Harry nodded, finding a chair.. The only one was right next to Draco and the two listened raptly, completely unbothered to be sitting next to a hated rival.

“Before we go any further, you will both take a magical oath to never repeat this information to anyone, be it by word of mouth, written language or shared memory.”

Harry nodded “Yes.. of course”

Draco slapped his forehead. “Idiot”  
Harry looked unsure as to why Draco was insulting him as the magic of the oath took hold and he could feel it locking in place.

Draco grumbled. The idiot had agreed without realizing what it would mean. “You’re an idiot because magical oaths are unbreakable. If you break it, you die.. Or worse, lose all your magic”

Harry stared, glaring at Quatre. 

“What? You really should pay attention in History of Magic. Magic Oaths are first year material.” Quatre chided. 

Draco grumbled as he considered.. Magical Oath, or be left in the dark. “Fine. I agree”

Quatre nodded “Excellent”

“ZERO refers to an Artificial Intelligence. It stands for Zoning & Emotional Range Omitted.  
It was developed many years ago by some questionable scientists as an operational assistant for Mobile Suit Pilots. It grants the user near clairvoyance on the battlefield, but renders him void of emotion or morality. All Zero cares about is success.”

Draco, having a bit more difficulty following, with all the discussion of muggle technology, was stunned when it began to sink in. Harry beat him to it though.

“So it gives you the power to see the future?”

“Correct, in limited time. More precisely, it allows you to see all outcomes of a given course of action, for all possible actions. It allows the user to become unbeatable. However, you no longer consider things like ‘should I do this, or I don’t want to harm that person. With Zero, all that matter is ‘can I achieve my goal. If the answer is yes, then the system tells you the most efficient path to take, even if that path is ‘kill all humans.’”

He let the two consider this for a moment, but before they could ask questions, he continued.

“The average pilot, using this system, goes mad. The strain on the pilot, on the mind, is immense and I wouldn’t suggest that anyone use it, ever. When I built it, I was woefully uninformed. Under Zero, I did terrible things. Things that make Tom Riddle pale in comparison. Things I can never be forgiven for, should never be forgiven for. Only two people have ever mastered the system. Heero and Myself. What you saw out there was an unforeseen side effect of a wizard who uses the ZERO system. What we refer to as ZERO is simply myself.. Or my potential as a Dark Wizard. The me who is willing to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. The me that is willing to consider all options, all avenues. In that state, my magic is stronger, darker, and most definitely more dangerous. I do not like Summoning up ZERO, because it takes a toll on me to control him, something I have worked hard to be able to do, to keep ZERO from exploring the most efficient of options because they are unacceptable. There is a ZERO in all us, i suspect. The system just helps to bring it out. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

He took a deep breath. Sighing softly. “You have no need to fear me when I’m like that. I might be scary, but I mastered that part of myself a long time ago. The only one that needs to fear ZERO is the one on the opposite side of his stare. Now, you two should get some sleep. We do have class tomorrow.”

Quatre went back to his laptop, removing his privacy wards and left the two alone, unwilling to speak with them for the rest of the night.

Harry considered what he heard. He needed time to take it all in. He left for his dorm, but he was positive he wouldn’t be getting any sleep.


	18. Horcux Hunting

After the incident with Quatre and Bella, things had been weird. Tea Time with Quatre had stopped and the boy was given a wide berth, though it was clear he wasn’t being ostracized.  It was simply that the entire school was terrified of him.  Surprisingly, this view had not fallen on the other four.  Duo was still incredibly popular.  Heero well respected and Trowa largely ignored.  Wu Fei’s classes were still the talk of the town, spawning debates across houses and engendering a level of cross house comradery that was otherwise unheard of.  Something about the man made you forget that you were sitting next to a dirty Slytherin when there was more important things to do, like proving the Asshole teacher wrong.

Weeks had come and gone, Bellatrix had stayed locked up down in the dungeons and aside from the occasional curious student, she was left alone.  In that one night, she’d spilled more information about Voldemort than Snape had told Dumbledore in his entire spy career.  One such, very specific piece of information though, one that Dumbledore was positive was the most important piece, was that the Dark Lord had given her a golden chalice to protect.  A very specific, fancy chalice.  Dumbledore was positive.  It had to be Hufflepuff’s Chalice.  He had to get Slughorn to speak, but the man wouldn’t budge.  Not even Harry could get the man to talk, and he had tried, twice now.  

Dumbledore stood in his office as he looked out the windows, watching the students he'd sworn to protect.  Students he would do anything to protect.  He remembered Gelert’s words… His words… Quatre’s words.  “For the greater good.”  Could the Blonde lord get Slughorn to speak.  He looked down at his hand.  He didn’t think he would make it beyond the end of the year, even though Draco’s mission had been entirely aborted due to the Dark Lord being ousted from his base at Malfoy Manor, the curse from the ring would still kill him, eventually.  Maybe he’d get another year, but even Severus’s mastery was only prolonging the inevitable.  He had to make sure that Harry was prepared when he met his end.  Harry needed to know what to do, how to finish of Voldemort.  He had to be prepared for the worst.  He wondered.  Would Quatre Winner stop him or would he see the truth, that Harry Potter would have to die?  He shook his head, that could wait.  First Slughorn.

***

Quatre looked at the letter curiously.  He hadn’t spoken with Slughorn much.   The man had tried to befriend him once, early on, but when it was clear that Quatre would not be collected, the man had not bothered again, so why had he requested his presence at such a later hour.  It was just after dinner, he was certain the man would be heading to sleep soon.  He was about to knock on the door, but heard voices.  Two of them, Slughorn and Harry’s.  They were discussing something and the professor sounded quite upset.  Quatre frowned, he knew what was going on and now this random summons made so much more sense.  “Dumbledore..”  well, he believed, just this once, he would allow the man to have his win.  He raised his hand and knocked politely.

***

Harry had given it one last try before Christmas holidays,  He had remained tight lipped and it looked like he was about to ask Harry to leave when a knock came at the door.

Slughorn looked up at the door, curiously. “Odd..”  he mumbled. " Who else would be calling at this hour."

“Professor..  I have a question, might I have a moment of your time.”

Slughorn looked immediately relieved, seeing this as an opportunity to interrupt Harry without forcefully throwing him out.  He hurried over and opened the door.  “Lord Winner,  However can I help you tonight.  Would you care for some brandy?”  

Quatre smiled, looking over at Harry briefly.  The boy waved at him, immediately glad that it was Quatre on the other side of the door and not… him”

Quatre smiled.  “That sounds delightful.  If you would please.”  He closed the door behind him and moved to sit beside Harry. “I was doing some potions research.. For work, I thought your expertise could aid in a most fortuitous venture”

The sudden praise and the mention of money had Slughorn’s attention immediately.  “Yes yes.. I’d be happy to assist, of course, what is it you need to know?”

Quatre looked at Harry curiously, smirking some.  “Well, it would be rude of me to intrude on you and Harry.  Did the two of you have business? I can wait”

Slughorn frowned and shook his head.  “No.. not at all, Harry was just leaving”  an obvious dismissal.  Harry stood, frowning and started to walk out.

“Harry.”

Harry stopped, frozen. His chest tightened and he couldn't breath.  His lips were chillened and when he breathed, his breath misted.  He could only think of that morning on the train, three years ago when he first met a dementor.  He turned around and looked at Quatre and Slughorn.  The two were smiling, Quatre looked so normal, Slughorn didn’t seem to notice, but those eyes, that look, Harry knew.  Quatre wasn’t in the room anymore.  It was him.  The name sent shivers down his spine, he couldn’t even think it.  He didn’t want to think it.  He didn’t want to be in the same room with him, he wanted to walk away and get as far from here as he could, but his feet wouldn't budge.

“Harry.”

The voice was calm and clear.  It was all he could focus on.  It was all that mattered.  

“What were the two of you discussing?”

Slughorn immediately flustered.. “Nothing!  Nothing at all..”

“Quiet.”

Zero’s stern eyes turned to Slughorn and he dropped his glass, the sound of shattering ceramic sounded through the room, piercing the quiet.

Harry found his voice.  “Slughorn has an important memory about Voldemort that he won’t tell us.  Dumbledore think’s it will tell us how to defeat him”

Zero nodded, turning to look at him.  “Harry, you can leave”

Harry almost did, but then realized what he had said.  Not ‘Harry leave,’ but ‘Harry you can leave.’  No, Harry needed to hear this.

Zero leaned forward.  “Now then, Professor Slughorn. Remember that feelings of shame about a mistake in the past only prevent us from doing what is right.  Your feelings are unimportant.  Your actions in the past do not matter.  We are in the present, that is all that matters.  Would you shame the Slug Club with this stain, would you shame Lily Potter with this ugly mark?  Tell us the truth, your actions now are all that matter.”

Slughorn nodded, in a trance and started talking.  Tears falling from his eyes as he recounted that night, all of it, from so long ago.

***

Heero, Harry, Quatre and Dumbledore all sat around the headmaster’s desk in his office.  
Harry had just finished informing Dumbledore of what he had learned.  Dumbledore frowned as he creased his fingers.  “It is as I have feared.  We must learn how many he has and where they are.  We cannot defeat the Dark Lord until they have all been destroyed.”

Quatre nodded.  “You have already destroyed one, have you not?”

Dumbledore nodded as he pulled out the diary.  “Very observant, as always, Lord Winner.” 

Quatre nodded. 

Dumbledore revealed his blackened hand.  “The truth is, I have managed 2… at a terrible cost”

Quatre nodded, looking to Heero.  “Worry not, we bring good news then.”

Heero pulled out the remains of a locket.  “This belonged to my father.  His house elf told me about it.  After much experimentation, we discovered something that would work against it.”

Dumbledore looked at the Horcrux, shocked.  “How did you know what it was?”

Quatre tapped his heart.  “That much malice and a little research.  It could only be one thing.”

Dumbledore nodded.  “Excellent.  That helps us out immensely.  I believe he would have made 7.  All very important items, something only befitting such a great wizard.  The book was his diary during his time here at Hogwarts.  The ring was an heirloom from his parents.  That locket, if I would guess, was Slytherin’s locket.  Bellatrix has Hufflepuff’s Chalice.  Ravenclaw’s Diadem has been missing for centuries, I would not put it past Tom to have looked for it and I suspect his pet snake, Nagini, is one as well.”

Harry ticked off on his fingers.  “That’s only six though.”

Dumbledore nodded, unable to look Harry in the eyes.   “Correct.  He would have only chosen very specific items.  I believe he wanted either the Sorting Hat or Gryffindor’s sword for his seventh, but was unable to make them before you stopped him.  So then, that leaves us three”

Quatre nodded.  “We will Obtain the Chalice over Christmas Break.  You will find the Diadem.  We will deal with the Snake last, as it will be the most closely guarded.”

Dumbledore nodded.  “Excellent.  Then we have an accord”  

Quatre nodded. “We do.  Ah yes, one last thing.  Harry will be staying with us over the holidays.  You don’t have any issue with that, do you?”

Dumbledore wanted to warn against it, but realized that other than Hogwarts, there would be nowhere safer for the boy than with this man.  “Of course not.  Do have a Happy Christmas, all of you.”

Harry nodded.  “Happy Christmas Headmaster..  Um.. good luck”

Dumbledore smiled as Harry and Heero walked out the door.  Quatre stayed.  He looked at the blonde.

“Harry is number seven, isn’t he.”

Dumbledore frowned.  “Yes, Voldemort cannot be killed until Harry dies.”

Quatre nodded.  “We shall see.”

Dumbledore sat down as Quatre left.  He was feeling so much more tired.  The way Quatre had spoken was what really drained him.  He hadn’t said that he would prevent it.  Quatre was as determined as he was.  Harry would have to die.  He sighed, closing his eyes and prayed.  Perhaps the blonde would unearth some plan that led to victory that he could not.  He hoped that that was the case, for Harry’s sake.  


	19. Christmas

Harry had discussed it with Quatre..  With Heero and with Dumbledore.  He was so excited that he could barely hold it in.  He was going to spend Christmas holidays with his family.  His real family… or at least with real family that actually gave two fucks whether he was happy or not.  Dumbledore had nodded and promised not to interfere, no one would come to bring him back to the Dursleys.  He had said ‘It was unfortunate that it couldn’t have been sooner.’  Harry wasn’t sure how happy Dumbledore was, but he could tell that his mentor was, at least, a little happy for him.

He had to tell Hermione and Ron.  He slipped into the Gryffindore dorms and walked over to Ron’s bed.  Shaking the boy away.  “Ron.. Ron.. wake up”

“Nnng…   mmm…”  he mumbled and swatted at Harry.  

Harry shook him harder.

“Mmm, mum, not yet. Dun wanna.”  

Harry chuckled and normally would have let the boy sleep, but this was important and more importantly, he didn’t want to wait.

He leaned down, wand to his throat, and modifying his voice into Hermione’s he whispered loudly “Ronald!”

Ron shot up “What..  I didn’t do it!”

Harry laughed.  “Come  on,  meet me downstairs “

Ron looked at Harry, looking around for Hermione, and wiped the sleep from his eyes.   About to go back to sleep, but Harry hissed at him “Come on!”

“Yea yea..  Be there in a sec.”

***

Waking Hermione wasn’t nearly as hard, but proved a bit more challenging as it seemed Parvati had a habit of kicking her covers off of her during sleep and had apparently, started sleeping with much less on, so Harry had spend half an hour trying to make it 3 beds down without staring too much at a mostly naked Parvati, or worse yet, waking her or her dorm mate’s up.

When the three of them had finally collected at the fire, a sleepy Ron and a Curious and slightly amused Hermione sat looking at a still very antsy Harry.

“So…  are you gonna spill or can I go back to sleep?”  Ron grumbled.

Harry grinned.   “I won’t be staying at Hogwarts this year for holidays!”

Ron looked at him queerly… "Yea.. of course, you’re stayin with us."

Harry grinned.  “Well, sure I’m gonna visit Christmas day, but I’m going to stay with Trowa and the others all through the holidays.  With my Brother!”

Hermione smiled and clapped.  “That’s wonderful, but couldn’t it have waited until tomorrow.”

Harry rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.  “Um.. yea.. I suppose.  I wanted to ask though, if either of you wanted to come.  Quatre said you could, if you wanted to”

Ron grinned immediately.  Part of him wanted to be there with his family for Christmas and he could still technically, but the holidays was almost a month long..  A month without his pesky brothers to bother him.  “Definitely!”

Hermione considered for a moment.  “I’ll write my parents, but I don’t think they’ll mind, as long as I’m back for Christmas”

Harry grinned.  “Awesome.  It’s gonna be so much fun.”

***

Quatre had  left school early to take care of his muggle affairs, something which had made the entire school let out a breath that no one knew they were holding in.  The last few days of school had been noneventful and finally Harry, Ron and Hermione found themselves waiting just outside the school gates for Heero to bring them to wherever it was that they were apparentlly going to be staying.  No one had said, other than that it was very spacious and that Duo had already approved of it.

Duo walked out of the shadows behind Ron and shook him by the shoulders. Ron jumped. “Blimey mate!  How do you keep doing that.”

Duo grinned.  “Trade secret.  Portkey’s ready though”  he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.  Unfolding it several times until it was back to it’s original size, he grinned at the piece of loose leaf paper that had P O R T K E Y written onto it, barely legible and clearly in Duo’s script.

Heero eyed it warily, but took hold. Waiting for the others until they all did.  Duo pulled out a pen and scribbled ‘U S E D’ just over the first word and the five of them were whiskered away from Hogwarts grounds towards the unknown. 

When they had arrived, a massive wrought iron gate lay in front of them with grounds spreading out beyond, a house could only barely be seen, in the far distance.  Harry looked on in Awe, Hermione commented how nice the place looked, commenting on Quatre’s good choices in locations, Ron burst into maniacal laughter.

Harry and Hermione looked at him like he’d suddenly grown a second head.  “Ronald!”

Ron pointed up at the gate and suddenly Hermione realized why the boy was laughing.  Two Giant M’s stood out on the gates and suddenly it was clear.  This must be Malfoy Manor.  

Harry’s head immediately turned to look at Heero and Duo.  “What’s going on?!”

Duo grinned cheekily.  “Dray’s parents are putting us up for the holidays.  Super nice of them, considering Quatre owns the place”  

Duo pushed the gates and walked in.  “I wonder if Dray has the course set up yet?”  as he walked inside.

Suddenly, Ron was thinking this was a terrible idea, but now Harry was giggling.    
Heero answered Hermione and Ron’s questioning looks.  “At his last visit, Duo introduced Draco to Motorcycles.  Quatre brought several over for his cousin to try out, as a present I suspect.”

Indeed, they could see Duo hurrying out of sight and the rev of an engine filled the air.  

Unable to get the image of Draco Sodding Malfoy doing anything muggle related, Ron hurried after Duo.  “I have to see this.”

Harry followed at a more casual pace, Hermione looking over to Heero.  “Is it entirely safe here?”

Heero grinned.  “Voldemort will not likely look for anyone at one of his former bases and Lucius has not been in contact with his former master since the will reading.  The Malfoys are and will always be aristocracy.  They are defined by their money and their status.  When these two things come in danger, their political beliefs will fall to the wayside.  You should take your time to study their lineage while you are here.  You will find it most… interesting”  Heero leaves her at that and Hermione can’t resist a small smiled.  A research project, she’s already interested and she won’t deny that the prospect of checking out the Malfoy Library is incredibly tempting.


	20. At the Malfoy's

Draco, in his infinite wisdom, had somehow convinced Duo to teach him stunt tricks. Already addicted, Draco was pulling wheelies and doing flips on his enchanted motorcycle. Duo couldn’t be any prouder. What surprised Ron the most though wasn’t Draco doing anything so muggle and liking it, but himself and Harry getting involved in the sport as well.  He’d scoffed at trying it when Duo had invited them, but once he’d gotten on the muggle vehicle, he couldn’t help but agree that it was so like being on a broom while being so incredibly different at the same time.  By the end of the week, they were all thoroughly engrossed in the machines and had already made a few Quidditch like games out of it. Ron had almost punched Duo when he'd made the 'Mini Arthur' comment.

Draco and Ron were getting on surprisingly well.  It had surprised everyone.  They still quarreled about everything, but after Wu Fei had remarked about how they were worse than an old married couple, the two had abruptly stop arguing and had been strangely civil.  Harry was quite pleased with the situation.  He had to admit, Draco was growing on him and he’d been worried that he would have to split his time between his new snarky friend and his old friends, but it seemed with the common enemy of Wu Fei, Ron and Draco could get along quite well enough.

Hermione had spent the least amount of time with anyone. Sure, she’d eaten with her friends and been involved with group activities just enough to be polite, but it was clear something else had her attention during their holiday stay at Malfoy Manor. The Malfoy library. Every single day she could be found, reading a new book… or in some cases, several new books. Draco didn’t think anyone could read so much without their mind exploding, and honestly, he had grown a grudging respect for the mudblood.  She had managed to read and understand some texts that were so old and poorly written, than even his father had given up on them as worthless. There was a good chance Hermione was going to return to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year, knowing more about the Dark Arts than even Severus Snape himself. The thought honestly terrified Draco.

Lucius has Barely interacted with anyone. He stayed in his study, talking only with his immediate family and Quatre or Heero when he was needed for discussion. However, Narcissa was being an excellent Hostess.  She was present at every meal and Doted on her son. She was pleasant with everyone, even Ron and Hermione and had surprised everyone with how welcoming she made the Manor of Snakes feel to the Gryffindors and muggleborns. Harry wondered how much of it was a show and how much was real. He had to give her credit, he couldn’t honestly tell. 

Christmas had come and gone. Ron and Hermione had returned to their families and wouldn’t be returning for the rest of the holiday. Ron had left, looking back at the Racetrack with strangely fond memories. He, Harry and Duo had spent many an hour on the machines and Duo had kept making these strange jokes about them needing a blue lion to complete the set.  Ron knew the boy was bonkers though, so he ignored it all. Harry had surprisingly snickered at the jokes though and told Duo that he had the wrong lion, but Duo wouldn’t be persuaded. 

Christmas had seen Malfoy Manor split into two. Draco, Lucius and Narcissa had spent the holiday together as a family. Harry and his new family had found a cosy study and celebrated there. Harry had to admit, it wasn’t like any of his previous Hogwarts Christmas's, but it had been pleasant in a different way. Watching Heero and Duo go from playful to awkwardly cuddly as they two of them got more and more inebriated. Something Harry suspected was Quatre’s doing, because they hadn’t been drinking anything too heavy in the first place. 

Wu Fei had been quiet most of the night and retired early. Harry had asked what was wrong with him, Quatre had explained that his wife had died around this time, so Christmas was always a sad time for Wu Fei. 

Eventually it was just Harry, Trowa and Quatre and the three had spent the rest of the night talking about family. Harry hadn’t really considered it much, but technically Quatre was his brother-in-law. It had really been an eye opener, when he realized what the word family really meant now. He’d gained not 1 but 2 brothers when he’d met Trowa… three more if you considered how close all five of the boys were to each other, family in all things but blood. Harry knew at that moment, that he would never be alone again, after he left Hogwarts. If he wanted to, they would let him move in with them no questions asked. He was tempted, for just a single moment, to forsake the wizarding world, magic and all of the drama that came with it and move in with his brothers in space. It sounded so much easier, but he knew, immediately, that it would never work. Life would never let him be happy so easily.

***

New Years had been a spectacle. Fireworks and Magic and Duo made for a very explosive night. The clock had rolled over, the night sky had exploded in light and sound and dragons made of fire soaring through the sky.

Duo had told Harry the best part of New Years was they got to do it twice, since Wu Fei’s new years wasn’t for another month. He’d had a huge grin on his face, explosives always put a grin on his face of course. Then Quatre had come out into the yard, Lucius and Narcissa following him and suddenly the mood had vanished.

Harry cried out as he clutched his head in sudden pain, and everyone looked murderous.

Quatre had placed the box on the ground and removed the cover. Before them was a magnificent golden chalice, but Harry immediately knew it was something far more insidious.

Quatre had turned to Lucius. “Prove your loyalty. Destroy the chalice. Fiend Fyre will do”

Lucius Malfoy looked at the chalice, knowing what lay before him and what this act would mean. He turned to look at Harry Potter, sneering at the boy who had destroyed his future, then at his family and finally at Quatre Winner. He didn’t even need a moment to decide, he turned his wand on the chalice and it was engulfed in flames.

A scream released into the night as the Horcrux was destroyed and Harry felt a bit lighter and heavier at the same time. 

***

Voldemort sat in the chair, looking out the window as the ground got smaller. 

How had things come to this. Fleeing from children. Fleeing his country, his birthright. He would amass an army and return. He would raze this country to the ground and build a new one from its ashes. Like Dumbledore’s Phoenix, rising from death to a glorious new life. He could feel as his Horcruxes were destroyed, one by one, until only Nagini was left. His army was in tatters, his hold on England was gone. His foes had won, but he would have his revenge. He looked back as the Earth grew smaller behind him. 

A voice spoke over the Intercom. “We’ve exited Earth’s atmosphere. We’ll arrive at L4 in 3 hours.”


	21. Curiosity killed the Hermione

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief warning for language.

She had been wary of the five from the very moment they stepped into Harry’s life, but she couldn’t really put her finger on why besides the obvious, new family out of nowhere.  After meeting them and spending time with each, Hermione freely admitted that they clearly weren’t working for or with Voldemort.  That they might even be a valuable asset in the fight against him, but still something about them scared her.  She just didn’t think they were as good for Harry as he seemed to think.  First, well she would admit that Harry’s sudden friendship with Draco irked her more than anything because the boy was a prat and she would never forgive him for the torment he put her through in their early years.  She was certain that Harry would never have developed the friendship with the boy had Quatre Winner not forced them into such a strange relationship at the beginning of the year.  That's really where all of this began.  Quatre’s involvement in their life was the beginning of it all.  So that’s where she started looking.

It took her 2 weeks of searching, googling, sending letters and visiting local prevents and lots of pestering before anything of value came up.  For such a public figure in the muggle world, there was surprisingly very little information about the personal life of the Heir to the Winner fortune.    
He hadn’t really become anyone of import until after The War to end all Wars and Mariemaia’s Rebellion.  He had been seen in close contact with the current Vice Minister of the United Earth Sphere, Relena Peacecraft as well as the head of Preventers, Lady Anne Une.  Of course, neither of these was a surprise.  He donated quite a bit of money to rebuilding war torn areas and the peace-keeping organization.  What she overheard while doing a bit of illegal magical reconnaissance at a local Preventors base was really where she had struck gold.  

Some soldiers had been talking about Quatre and how he’d somehow managed to escape trial for crimes against humanity.  It seemed one of the soldiers had been a part of Oz during the war and was claiming that not only was Quatre one of the famed Terrorists/War Heroes, the Gundam Pilots, but he was the one responsible for destroying a colony near the end of the war.  That one boy had been responsible for the deaths of Hundreds of thousands of innocent lives and gotten away not only scott free, but hadn’t even been charged at all sickened the soldier.  The other soldier had laughed it off and said his friend must have been mistaken.  There was no way the little fag of an heir could possibly had had the stomach to kill so many, much less even one.  

Hermione had had to keep herself from stunning the man for the comment, but in some ways she agreed.  She just couldn’t see Quatre willingly killing anyone. Then she remembered the incident with Bellatrix and the conversation after. Quatre had willingly tortured her infront of everyone and suddenly she could believe it.  If that were true then that meant that Quatre had more blood on his hands than even Voldemort.  It made her stomach turn that Harry was in the same house with such a man right now.

Then there were the others.  Lord Black was a mystery.  Where had he been all this time, what had he been doing and why hadn’t anyone known about him.  She really didn’t know much about Regulus Black other than he had been a known Death Eater and that he’d died in the first war.  Also, he was the younger brother, shouldn’t Sirius have been the Heir?

Duo… well she didn’t want to think anything bad about him, but because he was so close to both Lord Black and Quatre Winner, she knew she would have to dig.  She wished she hadn’t when she found the truth.

The video had been all but completely destroyed.  After the war, all information concerning the Gundam Pilots had been confiscated and destroyed to protect their Identities.  They were a bit of a mixed bag in the public eye.  For most, they were war Heroes who had prevented a much longer, much bloodier warm, but for some, the truth was clear.  They were Terrorists and had started the war in the first place.

When she found the newsreel of Duo being led down a tarmac, his gundam in the background being destroyed…. And was that Trowa Barton in the background? It was clear of one thing, Duo was a Gundam Pilot.  He had killed… many many people.  She didn’t believe in coincidences.  There were five of them, they were all very skilled, very talented individuals.  With Duo clearly being one, Trowa being connected to Oz and Quatre possibly being one as well…. Chances were very high that those five boys that had inserted themselves as Harry’s new family were the 5 Gundam Pilots.  The realization horrified her.

Trowa was a curiosity.  His relationship with Quatre was public and in her opinion a very positive step.  Of course, gay marriage had been legal for ages and if they were any other people, it wouldn’t have mattered. However, when it came to fame, moreso political fame, society tended to scrutinize you. Quatre would have been expected to marry and produce heirs. He would have been expected to enter a political marriage.  That he didn't and instead married for love... that he married a man in disregard of many ancient traditions, well It said alot about him. To someone as liberally minded as she was, it was the only thing that really brought these boys up in her views.  Even so, there was nothing at all to find about Trowa himself.  He might not have been a Gundam pilot.  After all, he was literally a nobody.  He simply didn’t exist.  Even in Duo’s capture, she wouldn’t have noticed him if she hadn’t watched the reel about 30 times.  He blended into the background so well, he was almost invisible.  If Quatre had been any other rich politician, he would never have considered marrying someone so clearly under his station.  It suggested the two had known each other long enough to have had a relationship.  Long enough that Trowa had to have known Quatre during the war.  Which led her to believe he was involved.

Wu Fei was honestly the only one she trusted out of all of them.  She was pretty certain that he was in fact the Pilot of Gundam Nataku that had fought in Mariemaia’s rebellion.  She might not have believed it if she hadn’t caught the professor talking to a rather attractive ghost in the castle.   The ghost was female and certainly hadn’t been there before he had shown up.  Rumor was, it was his dead wife who had followed the man around for much longer and Hogwarts magic had allowed her to manifest, but Hermione had heard the man refer to her as Nataku.  The ghost didn’t show up that often and never in classes, but people still had seen her when the Professor was alone, often in the library.

It all came down to one thing.  Hermione would do what she had to to protect her brothers, because yes, Harry was more than a friend by now.  He was practically family and she would protect him from any threat, even the ones closest to him.  She had to know, for certain, if these men were a threat to him.  Luckily, they were all staying at Malfoy Manor for the holidays.  Quatre, however, had a rather large Residence in earth that was rather close if you considered that Hermione could Apparate. The house was just across the waters, in France.  Hermione had been to Paris before.  She could go tonight, take a cab out of the city and sneak into the manor.  She’d search it top to bottom if she had to and find out what she needed to know about Quatre Winner.  What kind of man he really was and what he had planned for Harry.

***

“Man, Harry your gonna love it.  You too Dray” Duo was babbling.

“My name is Draco, Maxwell” Draco snorted.    
Wu Fei grinned.  It seemed Duo’s habit of mangling personal names was finally gritting on someone else too… that or Duo had finally hit his limit of Draco’s tolerance.

“I’ve been to France too, I doubt some muggle home is going to be that amazing, even if it’s my cousin’s home.”

Quatre smiled, leaning back and looking out the plane as the ground flew past.  “Duo… don’t even think about it” Duo was suddenly pouting as he sat in the cockpit with Heero.

“Dammit, how’d you know?” he was about to spin them a couple times, Draco deserved a little upside down fun in his life.

“Even I could feel your sudden glee… Duo glee is never a good thing when you're at the helm of anything that flies” Heero spoke.   “Quatre, are you sure we’ll have time to do everything?”

The blonde nodded.  “Yes.  We have until the 11th before we need to be back at Hogwarts.  More than enough to do a little sightseeing.  I’m certain that Golden Dawn’s activities are being handled more than effectively by Une, there’s no reason for us to get involved.”

Both Draco and Harry looked up.  

“Golden Dawn, what’s that?”  Harry asked first, though it looked like Draco was about to ask as well.

Wu Fei put his book down.  “A muggle terrorist organization.  Taking advantage of the disarmament of mobile suits to attempt to further their own religious doctrine.”

“A few wakkos with one or two mobile suits.  Nothing Wind can’t handle with the Tallgeese II”  
Duo grinned.  “Though, it certainly is convenient that we’ll be in paris.  Don’t you have the boys at R&D keeping things in top shape at the Paris branch”  

Quatre smiled, almost wistfully.  “Yes, things are safely tucked away, but we won’t be bothering.  I assure you I’m not secretly planning to solve things myself while we’re taking Harry to Paris.”

Harry and Draco nodded.  That cemented things.  Quatre definitely planned to deal with whatever this Golden Dawn group was.  
“So.. what exactly are Mobile Suits?”  Draco asked.

At the very question, Duo almost burst from excitement, but Heero stood, a hand on Duo’s shoulder.  “No, you’re flying”

“Party pooper”  Duo pouted.

Trowa pipped up to answer the boy’s question though, clicking a button on the table, bringing up a hologram of the new Ares II’s that Preventers was currently using.

“Weapons.  Mobile Suits are giant machines capable of great destruction.  Several Meters tall, they require a single person to pilot them.  These machines have been the backbone of Muggle Warfare for the last 100 years.  The current government is passing laws to restrict the building and ownership of mobile suits, but it hasn’t been enough to stop people like the Golden Dawn from getting their hands on some of the old suits from the war.”

Draco could only stare.

Quatre smiled.  “You needn’t worry though, even as terrifying as they are, they are muggle machines.  They won’t be able to come into wizard controlled territories.  Magic still affects the pilot after all and I suspect a group of trained wizards could probably take down a single mobile suit without too much trouble.”  He turned the display off from his seat.  “Im certain we won’t be getting involved with them at all.

***

Hermione was on a hill that looked over the property.  She had to admit, it made Malfoy Manor look paltry, however she had to wonder, if no one was living here, why was there a private army guarding the building.  The security at this place was insane.  Even using magic, she’d almost been caught twice on her way to her current vantage point, on a hill that was technically still on Winner property.

It took her another hour to get into the manor.  Apparently, even though the guards were muggles, some of them were squibs and others…  she suspected they had equipment intended to deal with wizards.  Hermione was positive, if she wasn’t the smartest witch of her age, she would have already been caught.

The study had been incredibly interesting.  Some of the books Quatre owned didn’t exist anymore.  She could spend her entire lifetime reading some of these classics.  There was also a wealth of information about Lord Black too.  It seemed they had been living here when the will reading had happened.  She’d found several documents involving what one Odin Black had inherited as well as plans for what Quatre planned to do with the properties.  Honestly, she was surprised, his plans were both brilliant and helpful.  She was already liking him more and more just from this, but she could feel in her gut that there was more.  So she continued looking.

She wouldn’t have found the bunker if she wasn’t a witch.  The secret passage had secret passages.  The security was impressive, but she was better.  Clearly these secret passages hadn’t been built with magic in mind.  She knew that if she came back later, that wouldn’t be the case, she would only get one chance to see what was down this rabbit hole.

When she came out into the hanger, so far down underground, she suspected she knew what she was going to find, but nothing could prepare her for the sight that met her at the end of the tunnel.

It wasn’t just five of them either.  Quatre had not 1, not 5 but 7 mobile suits.  She recognized the Veyate and the Mercurios immediately.  She’d seen a documentary about their construction when she was younger.  The only Gundam class suits built by Oz.. Why did he have them?

Then she looked on and realized what she was looking at.  Quatre winner had enough firepower to take over the entire world sphere under one house in France.  The Wing Zero, The Deathscythe Hell, The HeavyArms Kai, The Sandrock Kai and Gundam Nataku.  Not only were they in one piece, but it looked like they had been improved upon.  Why were they here, what was he planning to do with them.  

The cockpit to one of them opened and she reacted out of instinct.  She’d stunned the man, it looked like he was a mechanic.  He’d seen her.  She didn’t know what to do.

She climbed up to the cockpit to get a closer look at the man, what was he doing down here.  Who was he.  He was clearly middle eastern, like the guards that surrounded the building.  He must be part of Quatre’s private army.  Maybe he was doing repairs.  She looked in the cockpit and froze.  

When she came to, she was sitting in the seat.  Why had she climbed in, what had she been thinking, but as she sat there, looking out from the seat of Sandrock Kai, she couldn’t help but look around.  The screen came on, as if reacting to her presence.  

Text rolled by on the screen, but she couldn’t read it…  she was transfixed, the feeling of this suit.  She could do anything with it.  She could find out what she needed to know,  she could know the truth, it was all here. 

“Tell me the truth.  Tell me everything.  Who is Quatre Winner, what are his plans for Harry.  What do I have to do to protect my family.”

She asked and Zero replied.


	22. Consequences

Quatre sighed to himself as he went over some reports. They were in France now, but Quatre had decided it would be best to just fly straight to his house. There was a small airfield on the property, big enough to handle the small plane they were using and it would be better to avoid the public.  Everyone else was asleep, except for Heero who was piloting and himself who just couldn’t get to sleep.  Something had been bothering him for the past hour, but he really couldn’t put his hand on what it was, but his heart was telling him it was important.  

He was going through some  business reports that he had been neglecting recently to try and get his mind off current events.  The growing threat of golden dawn and the sudden silence of Tom Riddle.  Both were equally dangerous in his mind.  Golden dawn had been terrorizing most of europe for about a year now, but they had been so small up until recently.  They had mostly being setting fires, placing small explosives in empty buildings and there had been one or two events where they had opened fire on civilians.  Not that he considered these events unimportant, but Preventers could deal with a terrorist of that level, but then his sources had told him that a stockpile of Serpent Customs had been found.  Prevents had them shipped to earth to be demolished, but the transport had been attacked and the 12 suits had vanished.  

Now, three months later, whispers of Mobile Suits in france, well he couldn’t take a chance.  He felt a little bad, dragging Harry and Draco along, but He and Heero could look into the matter privately while the others entertained Harry and Draco for the rest of the holidays.  As he was just closing down his computer though, he felt it.  A sharp pain in his chest then his head exploded in pain.

“Ahh!!”  He cried out, waking up everyone.  The plane swerved a bit before it tilted into a nosedive. 

Duo was rushing towards the cockpit to take the controls, whatever had happened to Quatre had hit Heero as well..  Only one thing was likely to affect them both like this.  Duo gritted his teeth.  Someone had turned on Zero. He hopped into the co-pilot’s seat, gunning it.  They were only a few minutes away from the house anyway.  “Tro, how is Kat doing?”

“Fine.  Unconscious, but fine.”

Duo swore.  “Come check on Hee-chan.”

The unibanged boy did as asked, moving up to the front to check on Heero.  The perfect soldier was cradling his head in pain.  He looked up at Trowa with a frown on his face.  “It was Sandrock.  Someone is in Sandrock.”  Heero sat up a bit straighter, it wasn’t affecting him as badly, since it was Sandrock’s Zero instead of his own.  “Quatre will mitigate the damage from here… We need to hurry though.”

***

When they landed, Trowa stayed in the plane to watch over Heero and Quatre, who were still a bit out of it from the sudden unwarranted presence of Zero in their minds.  Both of them were masters of the system and were connected to their suits that in a way that was only surpassed by Wu Fei’s almost utter adoration of his own, who they now knew had housed the soul of his dead wife all throughout the wars.  However, when the system was turned on by someone else, the system immediately began to push into their minds, even from immense distances, and when unprepared for Zero’s massive presence, it could be hazardous, even to masters.  They had discovered this once when one of the Maguanac’s children had accidentally slipped into Wing Zero’s cockpit.  The boy had barely survived the incident himself, but they had learned very quickly, that only very trusted individuals who had some level of training could be allowed to even think about being inside any of their cockpits, even for simple maintenance.

When Duo arrived in the underground, hidden hangar with Wu Fei, he was shocked to find, not a manguanac’s irresponsible child on the ground, but Hermione Granger.   She was lying unconscious on the ground, Ahmed looking over her worriedly.  He looked up  when he noticed the two.  “Is Master Quatre ok?”

Duo nodded.  “What happened..  Why is she here?”

The man looked a bit confused himself.  “I don’t know much.  I was doing maintenance, just as Master Quatre taught me to.  When I can out of Sandrock to move onto HeavyArms, this girl was looking up at me from the ground.  I don’t know how she got inside, none of the alarms were tripped and no one outside has any knowledge of her.  After I noticed her, I black out and then Awoke to her sitting in the cockpit, screaming.  I managed to extracted her safely, but she’s been unconscious since.”

Duo nodded.  “Thanks man, good job.  We’ll get it from here.  Go tell Boss Man Kurama to up security and send some stretchers to the plane for Hee-chan and Kat.”

The man nodded, scurrying off and leaving Duo and Wu Fei alone with the girl.

“What do we do?  Erase her memories?”

Wu Fei shook his head.  “Any attempt at obliviation now would likely prove lethal to her.  No.. I shall attempt to rouse her.  Grab her wand and grab some bindings.  There's no telling what Zero showed her, but she will not likely see us as allies upon waking.”

Duo nodded, finding and pilfering the girls wand before he vanished to find some rope.  Wu Fei, started the slow process of waking the girl as gently as he could.  He looked across from her, to see his Wife smiling down at him, nodding in approval.  He’d found he could see her after a few weeks at Hogwarts.  Even when they weren’t on school grounds, she was always at his side, but only the magic of the castle allowed them anything more than small gestures.  There she could talk and even interact to some degree.  

***

Harry awoke to Trowa’s soft voice.  

“Wake up little brother.”  

He moaned softly as he wiped the sleep away from his eyes.  “Nnng… what time is it.  We there already?”  He looked around, it was only Trowa, Quatre & Draco.  The others were nowhere to be seen and it looked like they’d left in a hurry.  The plane was a bit of a mess, things strewn everywhere.  He looked questionably at Trowa.  “What’s going on?”

“There was a break in at the Manor while we were in the air.  It’s caused quite a bit of trouble, but it sounds like the perpetrator was caught.”  Quatre said softly, as he was similarly waking Draco.  “I’ll be most interested to see who it was that thought it would be a wise Idea to break into my home and why they did it.”  He left unspoken as to how they’d done it without getting shot.

A man almost as large as Hagrid met them on the tarmac, he had a beard as well, but it was much more well kept.  The man smiled at Quatre warmly.  “Master Quatre.  The girl has been detained.  The property security level has been raised, but after a full security sweep, no one else has been found.  It seemed she acted alone.  What would you have us do with her,  Duo was quite insistent you deal with her yourself”

Quatre frowned, that certainly complicated things.  If Duo felt this person needed a personal touch, then it suggested a few unpleasant things.  “No one is to come onto the property and no one besides my two guests or the five of us is to leave.”

Rashid nodded and saluted.  “Of course Master Quatre.”

Harry took in the large man, then looked around, seeing that Quatre seemed to have his own private military.  The place was like a personal fortress.  Who could get through all this, a wizard maybe…..  He gulped.  A small cart drove up and the four of them were driven to the house.  Heero was waiting for them at the foyer.  He had a grim expression on his face.  When they entered, Heero handed Quatre a wand.  Harry frowned… why did that wand look so familiar.

Draco was silent, but he placed a hand on to Harry’s shoulder, briefly, almost being supportive before he headed inside.

“That’s Hermione’s wand!”

Quatre turned to Harry and nodded.  “I’m afraid Ms Granger seemed to have gotten it into her head that trespassing in my personal property was a good idea.  I can’t imagine why she did it though,” the look in his eyes suggested he had several ideas, “but she has gravely injured herself.  Prepare yourself for the worst, Harry.”

Harry, eyes wide, yelled.  “Where is she! What’s wrong with her, take me to her!”  He was getting fidgety and Quatre could already feel the boy’s nerves getting on edge at the idea of a close friend in any sort of bad condition when it came to these boys.  Quatre glanced at Heero who only nodded briefly.  He hit Harry on the back of the head, knocking him out and catching him as he fell limply to the ground.  He lifted the boy up.  “Follow me Draco.”  Taking the boy up the stairs to where they would be staying for the remainder of their time here.  

Draco nodded, following quietly, taking in everything.  What had Granger gotten into that had changed their attitudes so swiftly.  He was certain that neither he nor Harry were in any danger, but he could tell that the same protection no longer applied to Granger.  He snorted.  Pity the Weasel hadn’t been involved as well.  

***

When Harry came to, he groaned as he sat up a bit too suddenly.  Draco chuckled and handed him some aspirin and a glass of water.  “Heero said you’d have a headache.”  

Harry looked at him.  “What happened, what’s going on, where’s Hermione?”

He grinned.  “Heero knocked you out before you did anything rash.  We’re in a guest room on the second floor and Hermione is in a room down the hall.  Though she’s not currently a guest”  He gave the Gryffindor a pointed look.  “She used magic to break into the building and found something that Quatre didn’t want found.  She meddled with crazy muggle technology and hurt herself and Quatre’s not sure she’s even gonna wake up”  He held his hand out before Harry could say anything.  “They’ll come get us when you can go see her, so stay in bed for the moment.”  

Trowa opened the door

“Speak of the devil.”  Draco smirked.

“She’s awake.  You can see her now, but don’t freak out, she’s like that for a reason.”

Harry stood, already freaking out and Draco followed.  He knew it was terrible, but he couldn’t wait to find out what the stupid muggle-born got herself into.  He always knew she wasn’t as perfect as she made herself out to be.  All those smarts and she did something this stupid.

The two of them walked down the hall and entered a room at the end that overlooked a balcony in the foyer of the house.  Inside, Hermione was lying in a bed, leather straps around her wrists and ankles that kept her trapped on the bed.  Wu Fei was holding a glass of water for her as she sipped and Quatre was discussing with her, but everything stopped when they entered.

“Draco..  How are you doing?”  she smiled softly.  “Been enjoying Quatre’s hospitality I hear, I’m rather jealous.”

Draco stared at her.  Who was this girl and where was the fiery Hermione and why was she so calm.  Why wasn’t she yelling and screaming.  She was so.. Polite.  So eerily calm and the way she was looking at him, as if she knew what he was going to say before he said it.

“I really can’t read your mind.  I’m not a Legilimens, though I would love to learn the ability. It really does explain how all knowing Dumbledore is, when he can read everyone’s thoughts.  Pretty unfair I think.”

Duo nodded.  “Yea, Least Snape lets you know it when he’s reading your mind… well he thinks he’s being subtle, but he’s got these huge tells”

Trowa laughed.  “Only to us”

Hermione was keeping her eyes firmly on Draco, completely ignoring Harry, as if she didn’t want to even look at him. “How long Draco?”

“What are you talking about?”

Her eyes flicked briefly, almost not at all, over to Harry “You gonna tell him. It makes so much sense, I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.  The way Pansy hangs all over you, It should have been so obvious.  I suppose I was just blinding myself though.  Ron won’t have it.. Well he’ll complain, but he’ll deal”

Draco was blushing..  There was no way..  “Get out of my head you freak!”

She laughed.  “I told you, I’m not a Legilimens.  I can’t help it if you’re so obvious”

He was sputtering.. He wasn’t hearing this.  He didn’t..

“Hermione, what are you talking about?  Why won’t you look at me?  Hermione.. Are you ok?”  
Duo grinned.  “Hermione seems ta think Draco’s got a crush on someone of the Gryffindor persuasion”

Harry turned to Draco, completely oblivious.  “Really..  Ron?!”

Draco almost screamed.  “Oh my god!  No.. gods no, never.”  He almost retched.  “Me and that poor, boorish, red headed weasel.  Gods no, what are you even thinking”  He turned and stormed out of the room.

Duo burst out laughing.  

Harry just looked confused.  “What?  Who..”  he turned to ask Hermione, but when their eyes met, all questions of Draco’s sudden infatuation were gone.  Hermione was looking at him with the worst eyes.  A combination of revulsion that had only ever been reserved for Vernon and Aunt Petunia, Pity and something else..  

“Oh.. Harry.”  Hermione couldn’t take it anymore though, she looked away and moment’s later, she burst into tears..

“What’s going on.  What’s wrong with her?”

Quatre frowned, pulling Harry out of the room and closing the door.

“It seems, in an effort to protect you from us, Hermione broke into my house to learn what out true motives were for you.  She is a bright and curious girl.  It is unfortunate that this curiousity led her down to where I keep Sandrock.”

Harry’s eyes widened.

“She somehow found her way into the cockpit and asked Zero to give her the answers she wanted.  It complied.  Unfortunately, using Zero has a terrible price, one she was not aware she was paying. Until we can be sure she isn’t a threat to herself or her friends, then she has to stay where she is.  She understand this and has given her consent.  She’s just across the hall, you’re welcome to spend as much time with her as you like, but never alone.  I know you don’t want to hear this Harry, but right now, she can’t be trusted.  You must consider Hermione your enemy.  An enemy who is much more dangerous than Voldemort.”  
Quatre sighed.  Right now, Hermione was easily the biggest threat to the wizarding world.  He had to find out what solution zero had given her before she decided to act on it.


	23. Golden Dawn

Three days into Hermione’s stay and there had been little change to her situation.  The restraints were gone, at Harry’s begging, but she’d had her wand confiscated and had a 24 hour bodyguard.  She was on house arrest.. More like room arrest and they’d had to deal with her parents too.  A simple letter and a quick memory charm and they’d thought she’d left to stay with Harry immediately after christmas, instead of when she’d run off closer to new years.  She was pleasant to everyone and teased Draco relentlessly.  Harry spent time with her everyday, but she barely spoke to him.  Quatre could tell that was the heart of the matter.  He’d spent some time in Sandrock, replayed her interaction with it.  Her question had been fairly simple and he suspected he knew what she had figured out when she’d connected with the system.  That brought him to her room now, Heero at his side.  Duo was keeping Harry and Draco busy, he was terribly good at being a distraction after all.

Quatre sat down as Heero closed the door.  The guard slipped outside, leaving the three of them alone.  Quatre waited for Heero to lock the door and ward the room before he finally looked to Hermione.  

She beat him to the punch though.  “Harry’s a horcrux isn’t he?” Her intense stare made it clear she wasn’t asking to make sure, but to see if Quatre was aware as well.  The blonde nodded, “Yes.  Of course there is only one way to really prove this theory as there have been no recorded human horcruxes before him.  The facts all point to Riddle making him by accident and the prophecy points to it quite directly.  So what now?”

She frowned.  “Clearly, he has to die.  That is the only way to solve the problem that is Voldemort.”

Quatre nodded, not so sure that was the only option.  Zero gave you the best option with the information it was given.  If the only way to kill Riddle was to first destroy all his Horcruxes, then yes Harry had to die first.  Quatre wasn’t so sure though.  He had more expertise with strategizing and ZERO had given him some other ideas, possibilities.  He wasn’t surprised that all it gave Hermione was killing her friend, his first time under Zero had led him to a similar thought.  One had to learn to force ZERO to accept that certain values weren’t acceptable in the equation, then it would offer new answers to the calculation.  Until then, death was always the most logical answer.

“Then you understand why we can’t let you out of here.”  Quatre frowned, he couldn’t read her.  ZERO was responsible for that too.  She was brilliant before she’d connected with the system, it was obvious when she realized that Dumbledore and Snape were clearly legilimens that she would have ZERO wall up her mind.  She likely hadn’t intended it, but a side effect of ZERO was cutting off one’s emotions. The result ended up with fairly powerful Occlumancy.  He had difficulty reading Heero as well, when he was The Perfect Soldier, but their more intimate connection made it easier for him to get past such barriers.  He had no such connection with Hermione.  He hated that he couldn’t read her right now, because he had no way to tell if she was lying or not.

She nodded.  “Of course.  I will try to take actions into my own hands.  It would be best if someone close to him did it.  To make sure he feels no pain.  Quick and Painless would be best.  Give me my wand and I’ll solve this problem right away.  We can capture Riddle before he rebuilds.”

“We have to find him f..” Heero mentioned, but Hermione cut him off.  “No need, he’s in Space.”

“WHAT!!”  Quatre exclaimed before he considered it. “Of course.”  how had he not considered the option.  He sighed…  typical.  “We need to find out which Colony he’s headed to.  It’s imperative we stop him before he learns too much.”

Heero nodded.  “I’ll start looking immediately.”  He stood to leave before his phone beeped.  Pulling it out to look at the message, his shoulders fell before he turned to Quatre with a look that spelled trouble.

“It’s Une…  Turn on the TV”

Quatre grabbed a remote, turning it on 

He flipped until he found the news, immediately cursing.  There was a story about a firefight just outside of London.  The news couldn’t see much, but they’d seen enough for Quatre to know what Une wanted them to see.

“They’ve made their move.  I didn’t expect them to hit london.”

“We have Damocles though” 

Quatre nodded.  “We do, but I really don’t want to use it if possible.”

“If we don’t react though more lives will be lost.  The London branch isn’t equipped to deal with Mobile Suits.  We  have enough warning and we can Apparate with them”

Quatre considered “Are you sure?”

Heero nodded.  “Zero 5 has made it abundantly clear that with our close ties, we have should a 85% success rate.” Heero’s voice turning monotone as he spoke. 

Quatre’s nodded.  “Damocles would give us about 15 minutes safely.  Any longer would be dangerous to the locals…  Can we do it in that time?”

Heero nodded.  “What about Helium, Hydrogen and DiCarbon?”

Quatre couldn’t help but smirk as Heero’s ZERO state so casually used Duo’s ‘mission names’ for Hermione, Harry and Draco.  Ron of course was Radon, Duo would be disappointed he didn’t get mentioned, but Ron was unnecessary and Perfect Soldier only dealt in necessities.

“Oh My God!”  Hermione cried out.  “That’s close to Otter St Catchpole.  Ron lives there.  He’ll be killed!”  She looked at the two of them, then back to the TV and disappeared in a pop.

Speak of the devil….  “Of course she can Apparate Wandlessly.”  Quatre snorted.  “Gather the others, We leave immediately.  Draco with Duo..”  he raised his hand as such an idea almost brought Heero out of Perfect Soldier mode.  “He can’t be with you or me, Harry will be with Trowa and Draco will needlessly distract Wu Fei.  We can just channel their banter into the enemy coms anyway.”  Heero nodded, turning on the spot and apparating to retrieve the others.

***

When Quatre arrived in the Hangar bay, it was to find Hermione trying to climb into Sandrock, but he’d wasn’t having any of that.  Gundanium was a little more magic resistant than most people realized and Sandrock only answered to Quatre or a few very specific individuals.  Hermione had been very very lucky… or unlucky perhaps, that she’d found it with the cockpit open.  She was trying her best to get inside, to no avail.  

“You’re coming with me.  There’s room behind the seat.  I’m afraid I can’t leave you here alone or worse, alone with Harry and Draco.  You’ll just have to sit and be quiet.  I have no qualms killing you and accepting Harry’s wrath if you become too much of a threat”

Hermione quieted immediately.  She was smart, smarter now than ever and knew just how true it was.  Quatre had no desire to kill anyone, but Harry was family, she wasn’t.  He’d do what was needed to protect family, she knew that now.  She realized how wrong she’d been about them all, though it was too little too late.  If she was to save Harry, she would have to behave.  Eventually they would be left alone and she could save him of the horrible fate of being a Horcrux.  He would understand.  He would thank her.  

Quatre climbed up to the cockpit, letting her climb in before him then he slid inside as well, closing the door and started powering Sandrock up.  The helmet that connected him to Zero came down, settling down onto his head and covering his eyes.  This was full connection with ZERO.  Hermione had only felt the briefest effects of it, this likely would have killed her… or worse.

In this state, he could see everything.  The movements of his family, the movements of his foes and the thoughts of so many people.  It wasn’t telepathy or true foresight.  Zero dealt in numbers, calculations, outcomes.  Infinite possibilities in the matter of seconds.  He could see each and every outcome of any question he could imagine.  He didn’t need to see his enemies because he already knew where they’d be before they got there.  

“01 ready”  Heero spoke.  

“02 ready…  What the bloody hell, who are you talking to you daft…”

“03 ready.”    
“Im ready too”  Harry spoke meakly.

“Harry, is that you.  Where are you?”

Duo chuckled.  “I know Dray.   you’d rather be in his lap huh?”

“Whaaa Im not in your lap!”

“Stop teasing him Duo.  Harry’s needs to focus over here”

“04 ready.”  Quatre turned to Hermione, she nodded.  “Hermione Ready”

Wu Fei finished the count down.  “05 ready.  On three, to the right, focus on london Air Space.  Initiate thrusters.  One”

The was a loud explosion of sound as all 5 mobile suits engaged thrusters, lifting them just a few feet into the air inside the underground bunker.

“Engage Stealthing Technology”

“Ready to be invisible Dray”  

“This thing has a cloak of Invisibility?”  

“even better!”  Duo cackled.  

They all had cloaking tech, but Duo’s was still vastly superior to the rest.  Deathscythe hell vanished entirely as smoke filled the room, fog emitters on Wing Zero creating a visual deterrent as they all activated radar jammers.  

“Turn to the right, 3”

5 Mobile suits begun a slow clockwise spin and then 5 loud pops.  The mobile suits vanished, one by one leaving the hanger mostly empty.

Just above Heathrow Spaceport a dense cloud cover appeared.   No one seemed to notice a few more clouds in an already cloudy day though.  The five pilots, hoving in the air, all turned to face the battle happening in the distance.

“Activating Damocles now.  Set clocks to 15.  In 3, 2 1.  Go”  and they all took off towards the battle.

Hermione was of course immediately curious about what Damocles was.  Quatre answered her before she even asked.  He knew she was going to anyway.  “It’s a series of satellites in orbit around the earth.  It’s mostly just a communications system, but I won’t deny, it has some less than ethical abilities.  Necessary to do what must be done to protect the peace we established.  In this case, long range, targeted EMP bursts.”

 “To prevent news coverage of your highly illegal mobile suits.”

He chuckled.  “Smart girl…  best be quiet though..  Oh look, isn’t that Ron”

Hermione looked at the screen,  they were just moving into the wizarding airspace of Otter st catchpole.  The redhead and his twin brothers were all on brooms, in the air, watching the destruction so close by like complete idiots instead of running to find shelter.  She had to catch herself before she started yelling as they moved past the three boys on brooms, still covered in a thick layer of fog.

***

It was a bloodbath.  Buildings on fire, people screaming as they ran from the carnage.  The Golden Dawn had descended on the city of London and immediately started attacking large populated areas.  There was nothing anyone could do until preventer’s arrived and in that time, they would make their demands known, autonomy or death.  Freedom to do as they pleased, because who could stop them now.  

They didn’t plan on destroying the entire city, just cause enough chaos to make a point, defeat the local Preventers who were woefully unprepared for dealing with mobile suits of this caliber, then take control and use the residents as hostages until the ESUN recognized their demands.

Everything was going according to plan.  The Preventers had arrived and battle had commenced.  Their 20 suits, with well trained pilots versus 4 Preventers.  The preventers had newer suits, but the pilots were green.  They clearly hadn’t taken part in the wars, this would be child’s play.  Andre grinned as he leveled the barrel of his beam rifle down at one of the four, setting his sights on the chest cavity of the suit.  He was pressing the trigger when everything went black.    
His screens went fuzzy and he immediately started rebooting suit.  “What’s going on?” 

They had old style radios, easier to avoid the preventer’s from listening in.  “Someone has an EMP.  Everything’s Shorted out..  In a 1 mile radius..  Who the fuck has specialized EMPs”

Andre snarled, someone was going to pay.  His suit kicked back online.  The Serpent's’ had fairly good shielding on their cores.  EMPs wouldn’t shut them down for long.  Just as his screen came back on, he screamed as the world exploded into fire.

Peter watched in horror as a beam scythe came out of nowhere, ripping Andre’s suit in two.  A grim, black suit appeared out of thin air and he realized exactly which suit it was.  He’d seen that suit in the war.  “No!!  It’s not possible!”  He turned and fired, but Deathscythe Hell Kai had already vanished again, moving on to it’s next victim.

Peter looked around and sure enough, four more suits approaching, each one menacing in it’s own different way.  These were mobile suits of legend.  They had the kind of presence that brought true terror to the battlefield.  “Screw this!”  He turned skyward, fleeing.

***

“01.. Remain at present location, target all fleeing suits, Let none survive”

“Acknowledged”

Hermione watched Quatre in something akin to both awe and Terror.  He was like a robot, issuing orders as he piloted his suit into battle, ripping one of the Serpents in half with his heat shotels even as he dodged fire from two more.  

“05, Locate the leader, defeat but do not destroy.  Detain for questioning.”

“Of Course”

Quatre, Duo and Trowa had moved into the fray and were making short work of the rebels.  The Preventers had moved back, just out of range of the battle with their backs to the fight.  It seemed they were looking for survivors in all the wreckage, but Hermione couldn’t help but notice, it also meant they weren’t able to record the battle either.  “They’re in on this.  They know you possess these suits, even though possessing mobile suits is a criminal offense.”

Quatre didn’t respond to her, but she knew she was right.  Was the government already beginning to show signs of corruption.. Or had they just been given special privileges.  She couldn’t deny that had they not shown up, things would be going differently.  

“That idiot Weasel.  He’s gonna get himself killed.  Hey Duo, let’s scare him good.”

“Not now Dray.. kinda keeping him alive.”  As Duo intervened between the foolish boy on his broom and another serpent, slicing it in half.  The explosion had enough force to send Ron flying back though.  Maybe that would serve a decent warning to him and his siblings….  Hermione sighed.. Not likely.

The fight was coming to a close and it was clear that the boys had won, but surprisingly, Wu Fei was nowhere to be seen.   The other suits had all been destroyed, either by the mop up squad, as Duo had called them, or by Wing Zero picking them out of the sky as they fled.  Moving around a building though, they found Fei locked in combat with a new suit.  A much more advanced suit.  

As the other four approached however, the suit backed off.  Quatre screamed, clenching his heart as he dove to the side.  A beam of yellow hellfire tore through the area where the five of them were and had the small blonde not seen it coming, they all knew it would have killed them.  

The new suit rose into the air, dropping several mortars as it fled and off in the distance, they could see the sniper fleeing as well.  

Quatre sighed.  “They have access to something much worse.”

“We should follow and take care of them”  Heero spoke, ready to charge after.

“No..  We don’t know their capabilities and we can’t be assured we won’t be seen. Our window is up, we need to return.”

As he spoke, lights started coming back on and people could be seen coming closer.  The five Gundams took to the air, vanishing behind cloud cover and a hint of Magic.  All the muggles below blinked as they tried to remember what the suits looked like, but none of them could.

Four redheads in the distance however watched as the five metal giants ascended into the sky before apparating away.


	24. Morning Wake-up Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of Adult Situations, close your eyes if it offends, you have been warned.

Wu Fei groaned before rolling over and pulling a pillow over his head.  The noise continued, but it was at least not as recognizable now…. A rather high pitch squeal filled the air and he sighed.  

His wife, floating ever still beside his bed smiled at him, a silent giggle on her features.  He just rolled his eyes at her before he got out of bed. He wasn’t getting any sleep any time soon.  Slipping into the shower to wake up and then get dressed for the day, even he was affected, but without a partner the mood was wasted.  

This was the one real problem that came with living with Quatre.  Running ZERO inevitably led him to be more emotional after the fact, which in turn led to a need to be held and emotionally soothed.   Quatre and Trowa were very private people and so any such comforting always happened behind closed doors and that was usually the end of it.  

However, Quatre was still very much high on ZERO right now, which meant that any such private emotions tended to spill out when the boy lost focus and stopped caring about keeping things inside.  Before you knew it, he was dragging you under too. Heero was, surprisingly, the most susceptible to this, but inevitably Duo always seemed more than happy to help Heero out in his time of ‘need….’  Loudly. 

What made things worse though, was that it seemed that Harry and Draco were also as susceptible as Heero was...or at least Harry was and Draco has just been surprised by a strangely forward Harry.   He didn’t know who was worse honestly, a playful Duo or a cornered Draco. Honestly, if he wasn’t so annoyed, he be laughing. His wife certainly found the entire situation hilarious.

He stepped outside, preparing to start his morning Kata a few hours early.  As he stepped just out of the reach of Quatre’s power, to where it was just a soft ebb and not a pulsating beat, he was surprised to find Hermione outside as well.  He supposed it shouldn't have been that surprising after all, but still, it had.

“Good morning”

She looked up, a bit surprised herself.  “Oh! Wu Fei… Couldn’t sleep I take it” she was grinning a bit mischievously. 

He snorted.  “Quatre’s already asleep.  The others won’t be sleeping any time soon,” he was speaking from experience, the after effects of Quatre letting loose were intense, even to a trained mind.

“Should I go?”

He shook his head. “You were here first. I do not mind.” and so the two of them settled into a comfortable silence as she continued to read and he did his morning workout.  It wasn’t until the sun finally began to rise that anything of interest happened. The wards broke as three individual’s crossed through the outer defense perimeter.  They still had to come through the gates, but that they had found this location was a feat in and of itself. Wu Fei turned back to look at the house, making brief eye contact with Heero through a window,  he nodded and let the boy return to sleep. He would handle the problem.

“We have guests it seems, care to join me?”

Hermione looked up, surprised.  “How do you… “ she looked up, seeing a spec of red in the distance.  “Of course, the twins. They probably managed to follow the magic trail back to this location.  Brilliant wizards, those two.”

“Twins?”

“Ron’s older brothers, Gryffindors and notorious pranksters.”

Wu Fei sighed.  “Lovely…” 

Hermione could suddenly see the similarity that many Gyffindors had already started claiming. That Wu Fei was another Snape.

The two of them, plus his wife that floated silently, invisibly behind them made their way slowly towards the front gates of the estate where Ron, George and Fred Weasley stood, holding brooms and looking like they’d flown all night.  

“Bloody Hell mate.  Did you really have to put Anti-Apparition Wards 10 miles out”

Hermione chuckled “I’m surprised they don’t go further.”

Wu Fei snorted.  “If Heero had any say, they would.  10 miles marks the property line.” 

She giggled.  “I should have realized that. Ronald” she smiled. “It’s really good to see you.”

The redhead grinned, “great.. Could ya let us in..”

“No!”  Hermione shouted, suddenly looking rather flushed.

Wu Fei started cackling.

***

With a few assurances from the Twin who seemed more aware of things than they ought to be and the three redheads were joining the two outside for breakfast.  Hermione still looked uncomfortable, but refused to discuss what all the fuss was about. Ron was oblivious. 

“So..  Those metal giants..”   George started.

“They came from here?”  Fred finished.

Wu Fei remained silent as he sipped some tea.

“Umm… yes.  They’ve been… put away for safekeeping.  Sorry to tell you boys, but you’re not getting to see them again.”

Three immediate pouts.  

“Does your mother know you’re here?”  Wu Fei suddenly asked.

Three suddenly playful grins.  “Umm.. We told her we’d be out for a while”

“Mhmm..”

“I don’t like the sound of that mhmm…  Hermione, what does that mhmm mean?”

The brunette grinned knowingly, looking somewhat predatorily at the three Weasley boys. “you’ve entered a highly warded area, just shy of a fidelous charm.  Chances are the family clock is showing you as either missing or not on the planet.”

Suddenly all three of them paled.

Wu Fei stood.  “You might as well ask Hermione if she’ll contact Mrs Weasley and explain things.  We’ll be flooing to Diagon Alley tomorrow anyway, faster to stay here and meet up with your mother then.”  The chinese professor headed back into the house, leaving the four to catch up, he had things to do anyway.

“So.. what are you even doing here Mione?”

She shook her head.  “Long story…. Not important”  she waved them off with a look.  “What on earth were you three thinking!”  she glared at them. “I have a right mind to make you fly home now, instead of explaining things for you.  I can’t believe you’d behave so recklessly Ronald! You could have been killed!”

“But…”

“Hush!  Theres no excuse.  At least you stopped before the end.”

“Wait..  you were there too?!” 

She glared at him. “That doesn’t matter.  I was safe, you weren’t. I don’t ever want to worry like that ever again.”

“You were…  ooof”

George elbowed him in the stomach.

“Listen it doesn’t matter, I have more important things to discuss with the three of you.  It’s so incredibly convenient that you all arrived today of all days. We have things to discuss.  About Harry… Important things.” She looked at them sternly. “Things have been rough on him lately.  I think the three of you could really cheer him up. This is what I want you three to do.”

As Hermione explained her plan, the three boys grinned.  It was the perfect joke, sure to cheer any best friend up.  Little did they know that they were already becoming her Pawns.  Moving each piece into the right place. She would save her beloved best friend.  She would save him from the hell that he was sure to have to deal with. She would stop this all, here and now to ensure he could be happy.  There was only one way for Harry to be happy after all. He had to die.


	25. Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mendeia helped me out with part of this chapter, much thanks for that.

The return to Hogwarts was met with both joy and depression. Joy to see their friends again and depression because a return to school meant a return to studying. Harry wasn’t the least bit surprised by Hermione’s immediate return to the library or the start of study sessions. The end of the year was just a few months away and that would mean tests. Tests that she felt they weren’t at all prepared for. 

When Ron of all people had invited Draco to join their study group… well it had floored just about everyone. Harry wasn’t complaining though. By the end of the holidays, his and Draco’s relationship had reached a level that he had never thought possible between the two of them. It was both awkward and amazing and he had feared that a return to Hogwarts would have meant a return to the way things were before. He had feared that they wouldn’t be able to see each other that much, that they wouldn’t be able to spend much time together and that it would ultimately lead to them returning to being at best friendly rivals. 

However, Ron had strode right over to Slytherin table on the first night back and told Draco in no uncertain terms that ‘You will join us for study tonight or else!’ There was of course a little back and forth between the two, but then after dinner not only Draco, but Blaize and Pansy had joined the rather interesting group of people that Hermione had gathered to help get them all through this year’s exams. 

The group was turning out to be a stunning success. Hermione had split everyone into groups based on their abilities and then written up assignments. Each group would teach the rest a subject that they were doing well in, then they would sit down for the next group to teach. This self-study group had started off with about 20 in total but by the end of the 3rd week, most of 6th year had gotten in on it and lessons had gone from the Library to outside just to meet the room requirements. Harry had almost suggested they use the Room of Requirement, but Hermione had immediately nixed that idea, it was a room that should remain secret. He couldn’t disagree really. 

***  
They were all so busy, the slight change to Hermione's demeanor went unnoticed. When Quatre finally realized what he had missed, he blamed himself entirely; he’d known he'd been fooling himself, hoping she had recovered from her exposure to ZERO. Hermione had returned to being busy and bossy and altogether normal for herself. Quatre and the others had believed that everything was settled.

But it wasn't. 

When it came to exposure to ZERO, those who survived faced three possible outcomes. Most simply went insane and ultimately had to be put down. Those who were able to endure ZERO, survive its use, and cope with the insanity were rare -- like Duo and Trowa. They lived through ZERO largely untouched, healing from its impact as if from an injury. But some users survived not by coping with ZERO, but by mastering it. Rather than healing from the damage, these rare few evolved past it, as Heero and Quatre had done. There was no recovery, there was no dealing with the experience; there was instead the creation of a separate persona in the dark side of their psyche, one that exhibited great control over the system. But this process took time. It could not happen all at once. 

Quatre now knew the horrifying truth that Hermione had not recovered from ZERO at all. She was still under the influence of ZERO's insanity, still wavering between madness and mastery of the system. If she survived, she had the potential to become like Quatre and Heero -- powerful, dangerous, and unstoppable. 

Which meant that the Gundams absolutely must find out what she was planning and stop it. They had to save her before insanity claimed her -- or she did something unforgivable in the name of   
Ultimate Victory  
***

Hermione smiled as she sat with her friends and family. Currently Draco was explaining a rather difficult potion from 4th year. She had long since mastered it, but Harry was hanging on his every word. Ron had done his part. It had taken a little convincing, but she had explained that the benefits of supporting Harry and Draco’s relationship and eventually her boyfriend had come around. He still grumbled about it, Ron and Draco still argued about everything… constantly, but Harry was happy and that made her happy. It would be best if he was happy for his last few days alive. She’d been looking into things and testing theories and she was certain now. She’d bought a blade from Borgin & Berkes. It promised to hold and intensify any poison the blade came in   
contact with. Then she’d managed to find a way down into the Chamber of Secrets to gather some of the serpent’s venom from its corpse. This had been a challenge. It might have been an   
impossible challenge for anyone else, but not for the brightest witch of the century. She’d managed to kill some spiders in the forest with the blade. Then she’d used their corpses to create Inferi. The blade had worked on them as well. All she needed now was a way to get those boy’s eyes off her. She had figured even that out though. The last Quidditch game of the year. Gryffindor vs Slytherin. Even with Harry and Draco’s relationship, the match would prove to be a spectacle, one that would distract even those ever-watchful eyes. That’s where the twins would come in. A surprise match, returning champions versus the current year. She was positive those five could be convinced to partake in an end of the year celebration. That’s when she would do it.

She looked down at the blade, tinted green from the poison and coated red with the blood of fallen spiders. It was deadly, even to a Horcrux. She would put an end to her best friends suffering and in turn she would strike a mortal blow to Voldemort. Then she would only need to find the coward and she would save everyone from He Who Must Not Be Named.


	26. The Big Game

Everything was working out exactly as she’d planned. The final match of the year had run longer than it had in prior years. You could see the joy in Harry’s eyes as he matched wits against Draco up in the skies of Hogwarts to catch the snitch. Their relationship had eased some of the tension that usually drove them, making their match a bit less aggressive and a bit more playful. As a re-sult, the rest of the team had worked hard. In the end, Slytherin had ended the game with Draco catching the snitch, but Gryffindor's team had better offense and defense overall. They had kept a huge lead the entire game, so that even with the snitch, they ended up ahead at 310 to 300. 

However, the real surprise had of course been the Twins and several Alumni showing up in the crowd after the game ended, Challenging the new guard to a game. Of course, everyone wanted in on it. Just as she had predicted, Duo had joked and then Heero had taken said joke to heart and before anyone knew what was happening lines were being drawn and all 5 of her nemeses were drawn into a game of the century. She sat and waited and watched.

The game drug on, no one wanting it to end, but finally as the evening grew Albus had stepped in and requested the Seekers stopped lollygagging and end the game. Of course, that had done little to end the night though. The game over, but the spirit of comradery high in the air, each house had moved back to their dorms to party late into the night. 

***

Quatre, worn and more than a little high with all the happiness in the air had retired as soon as he’d made it back to the Slytherin dorms. Draco was tempted to sneak into Gryffindor Tower for some butterbeer and a snog but took Quatre’s advice and stayed. After all, there was no telling if it was even safe at all with the Twins on the loose.

The rest of the boys had all followed Harry and the rest of Gryffindor. Heero had a feeling, but Qua-tre hadn’t seemed worried. He should have known that the blonde had been ‘drugged’ so to speak, but honestly no one had ever managed to take advantage of Quatre like this. Quatre was the chess master, the one who was always five steps ahead. So if Quatre wasn’t worried, then what did Heero have to fear. Unknowingly dancing to the tune of a different musician. He ignored the feeling of impending danger and allowed the mob to drag him under. 

Fei had retired first, then Trowa and finally Heero & Duo were heading for bed when it hap-pened. The feeling that hit his spine, the sense of incoming death, like the cool before the storm. Later he would think it was like that moment before Zech and he clashed, beam sabers igniting, preparing to strike. 

Hermione was approaching Harry with single-minded focus. She was gripping something tightly, though he couldn’t see what it was and she was very much not drunk. He knew he’d seen her downing the very dosed butterbeer the twins had brought. She’d gotten wasted before any of them… or had she. She moved to bring the boy into a hug. Harry’s eyes widened. Heero’s reac-tion was immediate. Gun in one hand, wand in the other, he’d fired them both.

***

The entire room had stilled. Time had stopped. Everyone was looking at Heero and then at where he’d fired. Screams. Blood. Heero’s gun hit the floor with a clatter. Oh god, what had he done.

Hermione was holding Harry tightly. She’d known. She’d been one move ahead the entire time. She’d swung Harry into the line of fire. It was only pure luck that Heero had been aiming for Hermione’s shoulder and not her heart. Even with the height difference, the bullet had been close, but it still might have punctured a lung. Harry fell to the floor, wheezing and coughing up blood.

People had their wands out, but it seemed that no one really knew what to do. Duo had taken ad-vantage of that moment and made it to Harry, pushing everyone aside. Knife appearing in his hand out of nowhere, he’d ripped the both’s shirt open as he looked for the bullet wound. He’d rolled Har-ry onto his side and just starred. The bullet still indented against flesh, flattened like it’d hit a steel wall. He lifted it up, noticing the flesh already bruising. He felt the flesh, Bone underneath was bro-ken, but that was all. Apparently, Harry was bulletproof.

Harry cried out, coughing up more blood. He couldn’t breath. He was dying.  
Duo shouted for everyone to move out of the way, for someone to get Madam Pomphrey as he rolled the boy back onto his back. “Heero! The bullet didn’t penetrate, what’s wrong with him?”

“Where is Hermione?!”

Everyone looked around but she was gone.

Duo looked down at Harry as he started to examine the boy’s front. There in his lower abdomen was a small gash. A puncture wound. A dagger thrust up into Harry’s lungs. The wound was a sickly green color and was turning black.

Harry coughed again, blood splattering against Duo, and slumped back. He was still, his body growing cold. Duo checked for a pulse, but there was nothing. Harry lay in Duo’s arms… dead.


	27. Choice

White.

A sense of nothingness.

Weightlessness.

Harry awoke and looked around. It was white all around him. Where was he? He reached down to where he’d felt a brief pain, but there was no pain. He looked at himself and found he was in his Gryffindor robes. Looking back out, the area around him started to take shape. What was once a white void was beginning to change. A platform. It looked like a train station. A train had just pulled in and people were getting on and there was a bridge connecting this side to the other that went over the two trains. Nameless, faceless entities moving onto the train.

Harry looked around for any face he might recognize, but he couldn’t seem to make out any of them. Then he saw them. On the far side of the platform, across two trains, two people waving at him. It took him a moment to really recognize them, but when he finally did, he exclaimed and rushed to join them. It was his parents!

Before he’d made it to the bridge to cross over to the other side, a hand clamped down on his shoulder. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

Harry turned around and jumped. “Duo! What are you doing here.. Where are we… Are we Dead?”

Duo grinned at Harry and shrugged his shoulders. “You’re pretty close to death. This is a place be-tween, where souls close to death gather and make a choice.” He nods to the other side where Harry’s parents were waving at him.

“You can go on and join them on the other side, board the train and move on to the next journey, so to speak” He grinned. “Or you could sit around and wait for the train back.”

Harry looked at Duo, slightly confused. “What do you mean. If I’m dead I can’t go back.”

Duo laughed. “Sure you can. There’s lots of ways to come back from death. Haven’t you ever heard of near-death and all that. Where do you think people go when they code. Dead for a mi-nute or two before they come back. You’re the same way. You’re dead right now, but… who knows. You might get a ticket back, if you wait. If you have faith in your friends. Gotta take that risk I suppose.”

Harry nodded. “What’s the risk?”

“Well… They might not ever save you. Then you’d be stuck here. It’s pretty lonely. Course I could be wrong, who knows.” he laughed. “You could go be with your Mom n Dad and not haveta worry bout the war and all the suffering back home. Eiter way, I gotta take this lug down below.”

For the first time Harry noticed something walking behind Duo. A terrifying creature, all broken and deformed. He had an injury in his gut. The injury was sickly green and the green was spreading. Harry knew who it was at once.

“That’s Voldemort!”

The creature winced and reared back at Harry’s voice.

“Yea.. it was.. Or part of him. He took a knife for you.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “I… I was a Horcrux, wasn’t I. It’s why I’m a Parselmouth. Why I could see into his head and why he could see into mine. It’s how he marked me as his equal that night.”

Duo nodded. “Bingo. Yea.. But even if he took the knife for you. Yer still poisoned. Even with a crazy immunity, you still might not make it. Suppose it’s up to the guys.” He grinned. “Man. I don’t envy you. Quatre is terrifying, even when he’s not angry.” Duo laughed. “Oh yea. Don’t hold it against her, too much. ZERO does terrible things to a person. You can be mad, you have every right, but don’t hate her. She’ll likely be hurting way more than you… if you decide to come back.”

Just as Duo spoke, a train pulled up to the station, heading out the opposite way of all the other trains. “Ah, speak of the devil.” he grinned. “Good chat Har.”

Duo walked off into the light, tugging along the piece of Voldemort’s soul. Taking it to some place Harry didn’t want to think about. Was that really Duo… no way. He wasn’t sure if that was actual-ly Death.. If it was just his imagination or if it was just some kinda spirit. This was all kinda crazy. He looked back at his parents one last time. Taking in a deep breath. “Not yet. I’m not done. Next time” he waved to them. They smiled at him and nodded. Harry stepped onto the small, empty train cart.

He opened his eyes.


	28. Out of the frying pan, Into the fire.

Time had frozen for Heero. He stared around, looking at every option. Duo had already left to get Madam Pomfrey. Ron had surprisingly taken charge of the crowd. It wasn’t a mob yet, though they might be if nothing happened anytime soon. The mob was luckily still quite inebriated, so no one could function at full capacity. Accusations were flying, but no actions were being taken just yet. The situation was both the best and worst possible scenario. Heero felt Harry’s only chance of survival was himself and Duo, if even one other capable person was around, he knew the odds would go up several percent. However at the same time, if even half the room was more capable, they might also prevent Heero from doing his duty and inevitably prevent Harry from being brought back.

Ron had reacted so quickly, Heero wondered for a brief second if he had known something was up. The boy wasn’t near as drunk as his friends were, how had he not seen Hermione’s dagger. Had he been part of the plot or just a convenient tool? Heero couldn’t act on his suspicions right now, the boy was helping him too much at the moment. People were dispersing to their dorms, clearing the room to let Heero breath some as he considered his options. He had cut off Harry’s shirt and cleaned the wound as best he could and considered his options. When he felt nothing coming to him, Nevile had appeared with something in his hands. A small stone.

“Give it to him?” 

Heero was about to asked what it was.

“It’s a Bezoar. It helps with most poisons.. Maybe it’ll help with this one.”

Heero nodded, immediately understanding. He placed the small stone onto the stone floor and slammed the hilt of his gun down onto the stone, crushing it into pieces. Pushing some into Harry’s mouth and some into the dagger wound itself, not sure which would be more effective. He watched as the greenish color began to abate slightly. The stones in the wound absorbing the re-maining poison that had yet to be absorbed. 

Madam Pomfrey stormed into the room with Duo, McGonagall and Dumbledore behind her. Heero moved aside to allow the Mediwitch a chance to work her magic. He moved to Dumbledore and immediate started to report to the man, his soldier nature immediately recognizing him as a superior officer in this specific situation.

“Stabbed with an unknown poison in the right lung. Wound has been cleaned and a Bezoar has been administered both orally and transdermally. Assailant has fled, but unlikely to leave the prem-ises.”

Dumbledore looked on in horror but did his best to mask his emotions for those around him. Look-ing to Heero and nodding as he considered his options. Fawkes had just had a burning day, He would be unable to produce healing tears for several days. What were the chances that Harry would be attacked on this exact day? 

Duo slipped over to stand beside Heero, slipping a hand into his, squeezing softly as Heero had gone quiet. 

“Who was the attacker?” Dumbledore queried.

“Not sure you wanna know, Dumbles.” Duo pipped up. “She won’t go far though. I’ll grab her in a minute or two when we know for sure Harry’s ok. I got an idea of where she is.”

Dumbledore nodded. Female.. An identity that would cause undo stress. Who was currently pre-sent and who wasn’t.

“What would cause her to betray Harry?” He said more to himself, though Duo answered none the less.

“She isn’t in her right mind.. Though she’ll be fine soon enough… well maybe. Depends on what she’s got planned next. Is Bellatrix by herself?”

Dumbledore’s eyes went wide as he looked at Duo. “We moved her to a private cell in the Cham-ber of Secrets. Only the house elves can access her, that or Harry.”   
“I could get in.” Ron pipped up.

Everyone stared at the boy as if he’d grown a second head. 

“What.. Harry talks in his sleep. I was curious once. You don’t gonna be a parselmouth to open the door, just gotta be able to make the sounds.”

Duo paled. “Does Hermione know about that.” 

Ron nodded. “Uh.. yea. I think so.”

Heero took off immediately. Duo looked at the professors. “Don’t follow us til Harry’s safe.” It was an order. He took off after Heero.

Dumbledore frowned and nodded. He moved to assist Poppy. “How is he?”

“I’ve revived him, but the poison has done it’s damage, Help me bring him to the Hospital Wing.” Madam Pomfrey turned to Minerva. “Get Severus, We’ll need him to figure out if an anti-dote can be made.”

Ron watches as Harry was floated out of the room. Teachers moving off in various directions. He didn’t know what to do. He looked around for a moment then turned towards the entrance. “Her-mione… Why?”

He headed to the dorms, grabbed Harry’s invisibility cloak and his broom and leapt out the win-dow. He’d head her off. He didn’t think she’d be with Bella. That wasn’t the right move. No, chances are, if she’d wanted to kill Bella, she would have already done it by now. Hermione was about to flee and he was going to stop her. He didn’t know what he’d do, but he wasn’t going to see the woman he loved harmed. Not by anyone, even herself.

***

She’d done it. She felt a rush of exhilaration. Everything had gone according to plan. She’d saved him. She’d saved Harry. Soon she’d save the world. She had to get out of the schoo’ls wards and then she would head to space and end him. Tom Riddle would soon be nothing but a bad memory in the mind of the world. In the back of her mind, quietly, she was crying. What was wrong with her. Why was she doing this. Why couldn’t she stop herself. Someone needed to stop her. Someone needed to kill her or else she wouldn’t just stop Voldemort, she’d replace him. 

“Stop!”

She’d reached the gates. She was home free when she heard him. She turned around, but she didn’t see him. “Ron?”

“Drop your wand Hermione. Move away from the gates. We’re going back and you’re going to explain yourself. Things don’t have to be this way. You’re not yourself, we can help you.”

Hermione frowned as she looked for him. He was wearing the cloak. Her wand gripped in her hand at her side, she looked as she whispered. “homenum revelio.” She could sense his presence. She still couldn’t see him, but she had a good idea where he was. 

“Ron.. Thank you. I love you.” Run! She cried in her mind. Not you too.. Not you. 

Ron’s wand was extended. His hand shaking. He didn’t think he could do it.

“Ron.. I’m going to save us all. The world will be a better place. Harry’s life won’t have been in vain. He’s in a better place… soon everyone will be as happy as he is. I’m going to fix everything.”

“No! Stop. You’re going to get killed. You’re coming with me.”

“I’m sorry Ron.” 

He smiled, dropping the cloak as he appeared before her. “Come on.”

“Of course. I’ll see you soon Love” Her Wand shot up. 

Dread filled his Ron’s soul. He was heavy, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t move. His wand wouldn’t budge. He felt like he was looking into the abyss.

“Avada Kadavra.”


	29. Quatre Ex Machina

Quatre was having a very nice dream.

He didn’t often get them, a consequence of who he was and what he’d done in his life. If he did dream, often enough they were nightmares wracked with guilt, anxiety, death and loss or worse. ZERO lived in his subconscious and very often took this time to communicate with him. Those dreams were worse than any other. He dealt with them like he dealt with everything else unpleasant in his life, one step at a time. He was Quatre Winner, he didn’t have the time for pleas-ant dreams, he didn’t have the luxury of pleasant dreams, he didn’t deserve pleasant dream.

He was having a very nice dream. 

When his own dreams weren’t assaulting him, many times other people’s would. He had learned early on when his empathy developed how to build shields strong enough before he went to sleep that by morning they were just weak enough that other dreams might only just starting to invade, allowing him even a remote chance of sleep at all. He couldn’t block certain people though. They were too intimately tied with him. Trowa and Heero, thankfully were very good at not dreaming. Duo was very good at lucid dreaming and Wu Fei… well he was better at holding things in than anyone else in the Earth Sphere. So when they were alone, he at least kept his dreams to his own, guilt ridden nightmares or one of his friends or his husbands own unique nightmares from time to time. Here at Hogwarts, where the dreams of so many children battered at his subconscious every night… well he’d started considering dreamless sleep potions but had suffered through the onslaught until he’d retrained his shields better than ever. Even still, with his newly fortified mind, his dreams were so rarely pleasant.

He was having a nice dream.

Quatre was lying out in the desert, the moon high in the air. He could see his home with his family was surrounding him. Trowa’s hand in his, squeezing it tight. He was safe, he was secure. He was at peace. The world was safe, he was no longer needed to keep the evils of the world at bay. He could just lay back and enjoy the cool desert night with the ones he loved.

Clouds began to form, covering the night sky, covering the beautiful sight of the moon, of his home. Darkness spread across the desert. His family was engulfed one by one until there was only Trowa and himself. Trowa was ripped from his grasp. He was alone… and in pain. He sat up, looking down at his belly. He was bleeding… He’d been stabbed, a knife in his chest, he couldn’t breathe. He could feel death reaching its cold hand around his heart. He could feel the life slowly being sapped away. He looked down at himself, slowly dying and frowned. “This won’t do.” 

The landscape changed, he was standing on the open door of Sandrock’s cockpit, in the forest overlooking Hogwarts. He could see every single one of them, little bees swarming in every direction with no rhyme or reason. Chickens with no heads, running about with no direction. 

A wolf in sheep’s clothing, fleeing the castle.

“This won’t do.”

Quatre awoke. He sat up and looked around. “She has made her move. A fair attempt, she thought it was check and mate, however she has failed to consider all the moves. Draco, get dressed and follow me.”

Draco was also having a good dream… It was a new experience, this one at least, but it was still pretty good. It was getting to the good part when he was shocked awake. It was like being dunked into the lake in the middle of winter, yanked under by the squid and held there. He sat up and looked at his cousin. Quatre was already dressed and looking in his trunk. 

“Get dressed, get your wand and meet me in the astronomy tower.”

Draco was about to complain... He was going to whine and groan and protest, but one look at his cousin and he knew, this was not his cousin… this was the other one… the other Quatre. 

Draco’s body moved on its own.  
“You’ll need your broom.”

He stopped, just on his way out, turned back and grabbed his racing broom and mounted it, flying through the castle at breakneck speed, angling corners only the way a trained seeker could. He didn’t know what the bloody hell was going on, but whatever it was, if He said to do something, you did it.

***

When Quatre arrived at the Astronomy tower, only a few minutes after Draco had, he was carrying something large and muggle. It took Draco only a moment to recognize it from Christmas. Heero and Duo had been playing with them outside… what was it called again… oh yea, a rifle.

Quatre laid down on his belly, aiming the long metallic object out towards the gates.

It was now that Draco looked for the first time. He could see someone… way out in the distance. Bringing his wand to his eyes and casting a fast “Aquila Visum” a spell to enhance one’s vision, he could see now, Hermione Granger.. She was talking to someone, but no one was there. Suddenly out of nowhere Weasley appeared. He had his girlfriend at wand point, but it was clear he didn’t have the balls to use it. They spoke a little more and then it hit him. 

Draco fell to his knees. The pressure of his Cousin’s pure, cold fury radiating out as the boy aimed the gun. In that moment.. That one single instant he would have welcomed death’s cold embrace. A heavy weight as something so much larger than him looked down at him, weighing him, judging him, sentencing him. 

A loud BANG echoed through his ears as Quatre fired. Draco watched in Morbid fascination as Hermione cast a spell aimed right at Ron. He recognized the spell immediately. His father had taught him the spell. He’d seen Voldemort actually cast the spell. He’d never forget it. The sickly green spell flew from her wand.

Ron and Hermione both hit the ground.


	30. The End of a Dark Lord

Quatre was already packing up his rifle, even as the two had fallen, dead, to the ground. He turned to Draco, who was staring, slightly horrified at what had just come to pass.

“Retrieve them and take them both to the hospital wing. Miss Granger needs immediate medical attention if she is to survive and I suspect Mister Weasley will need a calming draught. After all, even after being shot Hermione has impeccable aim. She almost hit him. I have to wonder if per-haps she wasn’t completely in control in the first place. I’m going back to sleep, I leave them in your capable hands.”

And with that, Quatre disappeared down the stairs.

Draco almost didn’t go… almost. He knew that if he left her to die it might mean the end of other things as well… things he was growing quite fond of. Without another thought, Draco leapt off the edge of the Astronomy tower and took to the air, diving down to the two fallen Gryffindors. 

As he approached them, Ron was sitting up, hyperventilating. It seemed having death spells shot at you was a good cause for a panic attack. Draco stunned the Weasley, in no mood to deal with him and levitated both his body and Hermione’s, before kicking back into the air and flying up towards the window of the hospital wing.

***

As all of that was happening, several teachers plus Heero and Duo had made their way down to the Chamber of Secrets. Heero had to admit, this place was nicely fortified. It would serve well as a command center, should the school come under siege. The entrance was well hidden and the key to get inside was warded with an extremely exotic language. It had taken Severus several tries be-fore he could get the door to budge, having been the only one to have heard the language being used often enough to guess the password.

The inside was a massive hall, lit by glowing green torches. The only things this hall houses now is the long dead and decaying basilisk and a single cage with no door. Inside the cage was the corpse of Bellatrix Lestrange. A food bowl lay beside her filled with soup that resembled their dinner, a fine layer of mold grown over it showing it had lay untouched for some time. Her body had several stab wounds, covered in dried blood and many of the wounds were discolored.

Heero approached as he looked over her body, before turning to face the others. “It would seem Bellatrix was Hermione’s test subject for her poison. I believe she tried 12 times before she suc-ceeded.

Duo chuckled. “Lucky 13.”

Heero just glared at the boy.

Minerva gasped… “She.. She tortured her.”

“It would have been necessary to ensure the poison worked. If it was too weak, Harry would not have been affected by it and Bellatrix would have done much worse had the roles been reversed.”

Duo nodded. “Ya shouldn’t step into the fire if ya aren’t willin to get burnt.”

Heero nodded. “Hermione didn’t come this way… however I suspect she knew we’d believe she would. We have missed our chance.”

A loud bang rang through the halls of the school, reaching even down in the bowels of the Chamber of Secrets. Heero clenched his teeth. That sounded like Quatre’s rifle… but Quatre was asleep. They would have felt it… “Professor, how warded is this chamber?”

“Heavily. Slytherin didn’t want anyone to know it existed. Even powerful sensory magics have never been able to locate it.”

Heero nodded, which meant Quatre’s empathy likely couldn’t have been felt through it. Which is why he hadn’t noticed Bellatrix being slowly tortured by Hermione…. Just how far had she outma-neuvered them.

“We should head to the infirmary. I believe someone will be awaiting us there.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Stand around, I will apparate us all there.”

Duo looked up at the professor. “I thought no one could apparate within the school walls?”

Dumbledore smiled. “One of the advantages of being Headmaster.”

***

As Draco was landing and moving the two bodies into beds, he was interrupted by the loud crack of apparition. Turn around, he was face to face with Heero Yuy, and just behind the terrifying boy were Professors Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall. Duo Tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to leap into the air.

“Gah!”

Duo grinned. “Good work Dray.”

Dumbledore called for Madam Pomfrey, but immediately went to work on Hermione who was drenched in her own blood.

Snape turned to Draco. “What on earth happened?”

“Lord Malfoy just prevented the making of She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

Duo raised an eyebrow. “Ooo… wow.. He must be pissed if he used drastic measures.”

Draco just groaned. “You have no idea.”

Snape nodded. “What happened, in detail. I think we all need to hear this.”

Draco found a chair, sitting down and taking a breath before he looked at them all and started ex-plaining his side of things, from the moment when he woke up to the icy hands of an irritated   
Quatre Winner.


	31. Waking to Silence

Harry awoke to the sight of cold, white walls. The hospital wing of Hogwarts had become an almost second home to Harry with how many times be visited it over the years.  Usually, when he woke after encountering the Dark Lord, it would have have been to one of two sights: Dumbledore or his friends. This time however, it was to closed curtains and the deathly silence that could only be achieved by an annoyed Heero Yuy.  His hand moved to his chest as he remembered the night before and the dream that followed. He wasn’t entirely sure it had happened.. The dream at least, the pain from the stab was still very real. However he had survived, it certainly still hurt like hell.  

Reaching over to the night stand in search of his wand, he conjured himself a mirror to look at his scar. Sure enough, it was there still, but it was much less obvious. Maybe in a week or 2 it would be gone comepletely... somehow though Harry knew it wouldn't likely ever vanish completely. 

So.. it had been true. Riddle’s soul had been inside of him.. It had died for him. Harry couldn’t help but chuckle, he doubted Tom Riddle would be proud to find out that he had taken a bullet, so to speak, for Harry Potter.  Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for whatever came next, he stood and opened the curtains to find out what was going on and where everyone was.

\---

The hospital wing was quiet as he emerged from his privacy curtain.  Hermione lay unconscious on a bed across from him. She was strapped down, but this time he couldn’t bring himself to feel so bad for her.  He approached her and looked down at his sister. He wasn’t sure how he felt. Betrayed… thankful… worried. She had tried to kill him, why? What had she been thinking?  Why had she done it, what had been going through her head? He had no answers and from the looks of things, she wouldn’t be answering him any time soon. 

Ron lay next to her, curled up beside her, looking as worn as Harry felt, but he was otherwise unharmed.  The redhead was asleep, his hand in hers. Harry smiled, at least that hadn’t been destroyed. He could deal with hating Hermione for the betrayal, but he wasn’t sure if he’d survive if their relationship was shattered as well.  He was sure he’d forgive her eventually anyway… Quatre had said that ZERO drove men mad. That they would be lucky if she ever came back to them. He hoped that she would… they would deal with everything after that one day at a time.

Arms wrapped around Harry, hugging him tight.  “You’re alive!”

There was a click and a flash of light and Draco was screaming as Duo danced away, holding a camera out of his reach.  “Give that back you bloody wanker!”

Duo grinned.  “No way, it’s a kodak moment?”

Harry turned and watched it all stunned… Since when were he and Draco public.  They’d been very private about everything that had developed when they'd returned to school, but now Draco was attempting to stun Duo as the boy dodged spell after spell while he waited for the polaroid to dry, waving it in the air and taunting the Slytherin.  Heero just stood in the doorway, watching and not trying to assist his boyfriend in the least.

Heero strode past the two and moved over to Harry.  “Feeling better I take it?”

Harry nodded.  “Yea… coming back to life really hurts.”

Heero nodded.  “Yea.. it does.”

Harry just started at Heero, the soldier just grinned at him and shrugged.  

“So? What now?”  Harry asked.

“We wait.  Find out if she’s back to herself.  If she is, then she’ll need you. If she isn’t.”  
Heero left it unsaid, but Harry knew.  If she wasn’t, then it would be a mercy to end her.  She was dangerous, not only to him, but to everyone.

“How do we know?”

“We will know soon.  Quatre’s gone home to retrieve something.  It will tell us for certain the fate of Hermione?”

Harry looked up at Heero curiously.  “What?”  
“Ahhh!  My hair!”

“You deserve it, hand that over. I won’t miss next time.”

Harry and Heero turned to look at the two.  A bed behind Duo had been torn to ribbons. It seemed Draco had decided that if stunners were no good, he’d start targeting Duo’s long locks.

Duo pouted. He had that puppy-dog look in his eyes. It wasn't working.

“Give him the picture before he does something you’ll regret Duo.”

Harry chuckled as Duo was cradling his braid.  It looked like Draco hadn’t missed after all, he’s shaved about half an inch off the base.  Duo handed it over as Draco snatched it out of his hands. Harry noticed though that he didn’t destroy the evidence, instead tucking it away in his pocket.

“Duo, would you go outside and clear a landing place for Quatre.  He’s close.”

Duo nodded. “Yea yea…  Is he bringing them all?”

Heero nodded.  “Yes. I think so.”

Duo squealed.  “Oh man, I can’t wait to magic up my aibou.”

Draco looked at Harry and Harry just shrugged.  “I think he’s talking about their mobile suits… Why is he bringing the gundams?”

Heero stood and walked over to Hermione, looking down at her.  “I’m going to use ZERO.”


	32. Gundams at Hogwarts

Duo had headed outside to clear out any students who might be enjoying the pleasant sunny day, but when he arrived, everyone was standing quite still, watching the 5 flying giants moving ever so closer to the castle.  Many rightly feared that this would be the end of Hogwarts, as those who saw a gundam rarely lived. Duo chuckled at the thought and decided they would probably do best at the edge of the forest, next to Hagrid’s hut, so he hurried down towards the smallish house to send up some flares for Quatre to spot.

As the five of them landed, Duo was all too happy to go greet his aibou, giving the suit a quick once over as more than a handful of curious students came to gawk at the massive war machines, a few of them actually knowing what they were.  

Quatre had lowered himself down to the ground, locking up sandrock to assure that no other accidents happened while it was here, then headed over to see how things were going.

“Keep alert Zero 2.”  Quatre said as he passed and Duo nodded, continuing his inspection of his beloved machine, but moving so he could keep watch of any overly curious students as Quatre headed over to the hospital wing.

***

 Harry and Draco both moved to the windows as they heard the commotion outside, watching from a distance as the 5 mobile suits made their way to the castle.  

“They really are a sight to see, even from this far away.”

Draco turned to look at Heero who had followed the two, looking out behind them.    
“So your just gonna get in your suit and you’ll know.”

Heero just shrugged.  “Yea.. something like that.” 

Draco watched as Heero left, heading out to his suit.  “So… we’re just gonna what, sit here while Heero gets in his suit and hope he doesn’t murder us all?”

“Fear not cousin, Heero knows what he’s doing.”  Quatre’s voice didn’t calm Draco at all.

Quatre headed over to Hermione, looking her over as she looked up at him.

“How are you feeling?”

Hermione glared at him.  “Like I’ve been shot.”

Quatre looked away momentarily..  “Ah.. yes that’s about what it usually feels like… sorry about that.”

Harry stood at the window, watching it all, not sure what to do, Draco at his side.

Hermione turned to Harry.  “I’m.. i’m sorry for everything. I know I can’t be forgiven.”  She wasn’t really sure what she could say for what she’d done to him.  For once, Hermione really had nothing to say at all.

“Come on guys.  Let’s look at the bright side.  Hermione’s better again.. Harry’s not dead either. School is almost over.”  Ron tried, fervently to brighten the mood, but it seemed no one would have it.  Harry just turned back to the window, his back to Hermione. He had nothing to say to her either.

He jumped in surprise as he turned.  There, at the window, was the large hand of Wing Zero.  
“Dammit Heero.  Move that thing more loudly next time!”

Quatre chuckled softly.  “Hermione, I’m going to ask you some question now.  Why don’t we move closer to the window.”

Hermione glared at Quatre.  She knew now not to trust anything the blonde said.  She’d become like him, everything you said had a hidden meaning.  There was always some plan within a plan, some meaning within each action that no one else could see. 

“Planning to throw me over if I answer incorrectly.”

“Yes.  something like that. If you would please.”  He motioned.

Draco and Harry moved out of the way as Hermione got up, much to Ron’s displeasure, and started walking towards the window, towards Wing Zero.

“Step onto his hand, Don’t worry, you’ll be quite safe, I’m coming with you.”

That at least reassured her, Yuy wouldn’t dare drop her if Winner was there with her.  Soon the two had left the confines of the castle, standing on the palm of Wing Zero’s hand.  Heero’s cockpit opened, he was wearing the helmet that connected him to Zero. He couldn’t see any of them, as it covered his eyes, but Hermione could feel his gaze on her as the mobile suit looked down at her.

Quatre nodded.  “Are you ready Zero 1.”

“Affirmative.”  came the cold, mechanical voice of Heero Yuy.  If they’d hadn’t known him for so long, they would have thought him a robot.  All emotion drained away. From that one word, they could tell, sitting in the cockpit of Wing Zero was not a human boy, but a machine. Cold, uncaring, efficient… 

***

Hermione could feel it…  the pressure of Zero so close by.  The system in Wing Zero didn’t seem to affect her as much, though she could feel its presence.  It didn’t call to her… no Sandrock’s ZERO was the one who she had bonded with, it was the one who called to her.  With it so close to her now, she was starting to consider things she had never considered. She looked at Quatre and he looked back.  She knew this was all a farce.. All a show. The boys had already made their decision. They had all known immediately what they planned to do with her…  It had to be. She wanted to glare at Quatre… to tell him off and storm back into the castle, but as she turned, she realized just who this show was for. 

Harry would never be able to trust her again.  Ron was too in love with her to see reason, to realize that she was a murderer who didn’t deserve a second chance, but even he would always look at her with wary eyes, wondering if she was really all there.  This wasn’t for her at all. It wasn’t for Quatre or Heero or any of them. This was all for Harry. Put on a grand show, ask some embarrassing questions, Harry would be assured that she was better and it would help him move on.

She met eyes with Quatre again and he nodded.  He placed a hand over his heart and she could feel it.  The warmth that radiated from his soul. The kindness, the love, but also the terror of the desert winds as the ripped away everything.  

“You and I have become kindred spirits, Hermione. A bond through ZERO that all of its victims share.” He whispered to her, almost as if he wasn’t speaking at all.

She turned to Heero.  She could feel his piercing gaze, but also his worry, his concern, his protective nature.

She looked over at Harry and Draco and Ron, all watching her curiously, warrily, but with hope in their eyes…  well in Harry and Ron’s eyes. Draco was watching his cousin.

“Hermione Jean Granger.”  Quatre began and she turned and couldn’t help but stand at attention.  His voice demanded respect and she couldn’t help but wonder if he was doing something that made her feel that…  she grinned, she suspected he was. Dirty cheater.. She’d have to figure out how he did it, it was bloody useful.

Quatre considers for a moment before he asks his first question.  His voice, cold and calculating, is so completely opposite of who he normally is.  “Who are you enemies now?”

She watches him, her eyes glued to his, though she looks briefly at her friends once before going back to him.  He asks and she immediately has an answer. “Voldemort and any who follow him.”

He nodded and asked his next question. “What goal are you seeking?”

“To protect my family from Voldemort.”

What do you plan to do now, Since your plan to kill Harry Potter has failed?

Harry watched with bated breath..  Listening as each question was asked and each time Hermione waited, considered and answered.  They were all things he wanted to hear, but he knew she could have figured out the right things to say if she was still under its influence.  Was she… was he watching his sister’s trial before her execution or was she going to come back to him.

Quatre stood before her, awaiting her final answer, though he seemed to have already made his decision.  

“The plan was a success. The Horcrux was destroyed. Chances are extremely high that he only has one left, his pet snake. My plan stays firm, to locate him, destroy his last horcrux and kill Voldemort.”

Quatre grinned.  He looked at Heero and the boy simply nodded.  He had already known that ZERO’s control had finally waned.  He knew the moment she had regained consciousness, but he had to be sure and nothing was more certain than The Perfect Soldie.  Of course, Hermione was also correct that most of this was for Harry’s sake. There hadn’t really been the need for all this show, but it was nice to have Sandrock nearby.  He’d been missing his partner, just as much as Duo had, he knew they all had.

He smiled, opened his arms and pulled Hermione into a hug, one she was more than happy to accept.  He whispered to her. “You won’t ever be free, however you have survived the first leap. Every step made from here on is your own.  If you ever need to talk about it, just call me. I’ll listen.”

She thanked him, before turning back to her friends and stepping back into the castle.  She hugged Ron and then looked to Harry. 

“I’m back…  I’m me again.”

Harry smiled, nodded and turned away.  Leaving Hermione and Ron alone. He was happy.  His sister had returned to him, free of the curse of ZERO.  He still wasn’t sure if he had forgiven her though. He wasn’t sure if he ever would. The logical part of his mind was screaming that she had saved his life, but he wasn’t listening.  She had betrayed him and that stung harder than any curse.  
***

Iria watched from the height of Winner Towers.  L4 was a mess. Golden Dawn had re-emerged on L4.  It had been quiet at first, only rumors. Whispers in the shadow of a new leader.  A shadow in the night that would bring about a great new dawn. Their numbers swelled, remnants of the original faction coming from all ends to L4.  Before they knew it, the cult had entrenched itself. No longer a revolution, the cult of the dawn had taken over L4. More and more people came to listen to the enigmatic leader speak his words of hate, of oppression, of genocide.  Yet no one did anything. The police never interfered, no one was asking for help, for some reason everyone just sat back as this madman gained more and more followers. 

Then they had done the worst…  The had taken over the factories and were producing Mobile Suits.  They were preparing for war. Winner Towers had all but shut down, closed their doors to protect their own, but they were prisoners with no way out.  The Dawn hadn’t come after them for some reason, but she had a feeling she knew why. The great lord Voldemort was a wizard. She had seen him using magic.  He was influencing all those he interacted with and slaughtering anyone who opposed him.

What’s worse, newtypes had been disappearing.  Someone had been killing them. It had started off as a single death, but the numbers had risen and Iria was certain the deaths coincided with this Lord Voldemort.  Why was he killing newtypes though, they were wizards and from listening to his rhetoric, clearly he was a wizarding supremacist. 

She had to get word out.  She had to tell Quatre. She watched as the mob was at the doors to the towers.  It was finally happening. She hurrying to pack her bags. She whispered a silent prayer, an apology to all those that she was leaving to the cruel whims of Voldemort as she took the private elevator that would get her off L4.  “I’m sorry.”


	33. The End of an Era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Mendeia for her immense creative help in this chapter

The end of the school year had arrived before anyone knew what was happening. The incident of Harry dying and then not actually being dead had been popular gossip for all of about 3 days before something more interesting happened and then he was left in the wake of Cho Chang’s supposed arranged marriage or some other sensationalist gossip. Harry, for one, was more than happy to be out of the spotlight. Hermione, however, was not quite so used to the lack of popularity. It wasn’t even that people weren’t speaking to her or picking on her like they had when she was younger or even doing anything different than they ever had. It was largely that a cold space had grown where one didn’t exist before. A space that seemed to grow larger every day, a space that no one was willing to cross, unless of course social norms demanded they had to. She was largely being entirely ignored by the entire student body, including Harry. Only Ron and the 5 Pilots spoke to her when not actually forced to. She had learned to deal with it, almost come to accept it as her punishment for her role in things, but she didn’t like it.

Surprisingly, or maybe not as much as it should have been, Ravenclaw won the house cup this year. Many blamed it entirely on Wu Fei, who, much like Snape, showed clear favoritism. He quickly defended his honor that all had a chance to earn points from him and only the Ravenclaws sought those points as frequently as they did. No one could really argue the point, but people… largely Ron, still mumbled about feathery favoritism. Snape found it incredibly amusing, he would have to start making a list of questions only a Slytherin would be able to answer. 

While Harry and his friends had focused on finishing the year out, Quatre and Heero had been keeping an eye on the news as well as monitoring space traffic. Riddle was out there, somewhere, but he was being incredibly quiet. Duo had quipped that he’d somehow learned to go off the grid, but the fact was he’d already had that skill in spades. He’d vanished for years before he came back to England and brought the Knights of Walpurgis back to the forefront of wizarding society, before turning them into Death Eaters and starting his first war. It was incredibly likely he had gone to some quiet, remote colony and was slowly rebuilding his power before he returned to continue his reign of terror. However, Duo was correct in one instance, he was entirely ‘off the grid.’

There were no records of his flight off of the Earth. There were no accounts of magic in space and there were no records of mass violence against muggles. Nothing at all to suggest he was even in space, but both Quatre and Hermione were in firm agreement, he was in fact no longer on the Earth. Heero might have questioned Quatre, even with ZERO, but with Hermione saying it as well, he couldn’t find any argument that the two of them didn’t immediately shoot down. Heero realized now the terrifying truth about Hermione. She was terrifyingly brilliant, likely even more so than Quatre. While she didn’t have his ability to strategize, that quality was something Ron held, but he simply wasn’t smart enough to make use of it the way Quatre could. However, where she lacked in strategy, she made up with pure brilliance in spades. ZERO had played the roll of Ron for her brilliant mind, using that intelligence to make plans within plans within plans and it had put her at a level, that if she had had Quatre’s experience as well, she would have won. Now that he knew she could be trusted, she had found that when she said something, he listened. It had been a novel experience for Hermione.

***  
Hermione had yet to comment on the situation at hand, largely because she had yet to come up with any feasible answers, but the argument had become quite heated, mostly from Ron’s side of things. Harry had let out a few indignant harrumphs as well though. The five pilots had gathered together, along with Harry, Ron, Hermione as well as Dumbledore and the four heads of houses to determine exactly the best course of action with dealing with the newest threat to Hogwarts, as seen by the entire student body… That being the five gundams that were parked only a few feet away from the castle.

Quatre had apologized, rather sheepishly, when he admitted that he hadn’t expected the school to react so… well like like anyone would react when seeing a gundam for the first time. He supposed he was just so used to them that he forgot that most of the school had never even seen a mobile suit before, much less 5 of them.

Ron’s immediate response was. “We should have a Quidditch match with them!”

Heero and Wu Fei had both immediately shot that down with “No.” and “That’s ridiculous.”  
The redheaded boy had flared up, but Harry had calmed him quickly enough with a “how would that even work?”

Harry had piped up with a “Why not have Headmaster Dumbledore put up some wards to prevent anyone from going near them.”

Duo had immediately snickered.  “Yea… like that’s gonna stop half the school.” He eyed Ron. “Bet your brothers could sneak past anything Brian could throw at them, couldn’t they.”

Ron couldn’t deny it, the twins had gotten quite proficient at it over the past few years. If they could, then several other students probably could as well. “Yea… plus, no offence Headmaster, but your ideas never seem to pan out like their meant to.”

Dumbledore could only offer an eye twinkle and a shrug. Snape wanted to comment on that, but wisely said nothing.

Ron offered again. “What about House Points. Anyone going near could lose points.”

Quatre immediately shook his head. “Ravenclaw is so far ahead, Slytherin and Gryffendor both would likely see the loss of 100 or so points as not even an issue.”

Ron grumbled.“Damn… “  
Harry grinned. “He’s absolutely right. No way is anyone catching up to Ravenclaw by the end of the month.” Both boys glared at Wu Fei. The History professor said nothing and everything with that irritating smirk of his.

“What if you just use a show of force, scare everyone good.”

“Absolutely Not!” Quatre, Heero and Dumbledore all pipped up.  
Duo chimed in with a much milder. “We’re trying to keep people’s trust. You don’t do that by creating a new quidditch pitch outta the forbidden forest.”

Ron’s eyes widened. “What, that’d be awesome!”

Heero rolled his eyes and Duo quipped. “Yea, cause everyone is totally gonna see Wing Zero’s blaster rifles turning a beautiful forest into a barrel wasteland as a sports opportunity and not the obvious threat that it is.”

Ron could simple respond with an “Oh.”

Hermione stood and approached. “A demonstration would actually very efficient though. Why not have the teacher all throw a couple spells at them, have a proper duel. Show them what a Gundam is capable of against wizards of Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick’s caliber. It provides the appropriately level of fear without using the Weapons of Mass Destruction effect that the US did back in World War II. It could also be used as an opportunity to train the rest of the school in what is effective and what is not when dealing with Mobile Suits. I imagine there must be certain spells that would vastly improve a wizard’s chance of encountering one.”

Dumbledore immediately smiled at the suggestion, though he waited for the others response.

Hermione continued on though, “Afterwards, I would suggest creating a police force of responsible students to prevent any would be ne’er do wells from trying to attempt their own magic at the suits until the end of the year.”

Quatre considered it over, looked briefly at Heero and then turned back to Hermione. “Fantastic, that’s settled, onto the next subject then.”

Ron immediately exploded. “What!... not even gonna pick her apart. We’ve been at this for 2 hours and you’ve picked apart every plan me an Harry have come up with. You just accept what she says without even a word.”

“Well, yea.” Duo quipped. “It’s a good, well thought out idea.. And Let’s be honest, this is Hermione. She’s one of us now.” All the boys had nodded, as if this statement was matter of fact. 

The comment seemed to unnerve Harry and Ron. They didn’t really get what Duo meant and it hurt them as well… Had they not earned the boys trust. Hermione wasn’t sure she would be able to convey what Duo meant, but the realization had floored her. She now shared an experience with the boys that no one else in the room could even possibly imagine. Having survived ZERO with one’s mind intact brought on a level of trust that was immeasurable. Quatre turned to smile at her and she knew right then and there that in their eyes, she was a valuable ally. One who could absolutely be trusted and that her words held a weight that not even Dumbledore’s did.

Trowa placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder, promising to explain it later and the issue was dropped.

Quatre nodded. “I can manage the police force. I have several students in mind who will be perfect for such a task force.” Several Slytherin’s came to mind immediately as well as a few others. 

The actual demonstration was something else to behold. Held that evening after dinner. Dumbledore and all the heads of houses had gone over the demonstration with Heero and Wu Fei for some hours, going over several spells that they thought would be most effective, as well as what would be safe to use from the Gundams side. 

The battle that ensued was one for the record books. Gundam Wing Zero & Gundam Nataku versus 5 battle-hardened wizards. It took all 5 wizards to deflect a low-powered beam shot. Heero had tested the spell himself before he allowed anyone else to, the results had actually surprised him. He was already modulating to deal with the chance that Voldemort might be able to use magic in a mobile suit battle. Dumbledore and Flitwick had come up with several very tricky spells to completely immobilize the suits movement and Snape of all teachers had actually done real damage to one of the suits with his Sectumsempra. However, many students were quite crestfallen when it was apparent that the majority of direct damage magic was simply absorbed into the gundanium plating. The end result, most magic was completely useless against a suit itself, though very specialized spells, used in tricksy ways could immobilize a suit. Beams could be defended against, when done so with large groups of wizards casting shielding spells in unison, but bullets were immensely more dangerous and only Dumbledore had proved skilled enough to deflect them, and this had been done in a very controlled scenario with said targets being the poor forbidden forest, not the Headmaster himself.   
Surprisingly, Nataku’s flamethrowers had been the least dangerous thing in the entire duel.  Flitwick had easily dealt with the flame with the Flame-Freezing charm, the same one invented during the salem witch trials. That had earned the professor several points from the boys themselves and had Wu Fei temporarily furious, before admitting a loss to the smaller professor.

After the duel had ended, they had set up to teach classes on tactics and magic involving such an event and aside from a few brief attempts, no one had bothered the suits the rest of the year.   
***

The entire experience had changed her relationship with them in ways she hadn’t ever expected, especially with how things had happened up until then. It was as if she was one of them and her survival had proven her worth in a way that Harry, Ron.. hell even Dumbledore couldn’t measure up to. 

Unfortunately, even she couldn’t come up with a definite answer for what Voldemort was doing up in space. The entire idea baffled even her, on some instinctual level. It had been Ron to bring the subject up that finally clarified the subject and she wondered what the chances were that Voldemort had known the truth or had he both made an incredible mistake and happened upon a massive stroke of luck at the same time.

***

Ron looked up at Heero as most of The Order of the Phoenix and the aptly named ‘not at all the order of anything that Duo comes up with'’ sat in the Room of Requirement discussing what to do about Voldemort now that school would be over soon and all the Horcruxes except Nagini had been destroyed.  
“Why would he even go to space. Wouldn’t he lose all his magic. Isn’t there… ya know, not any magic in space?”

Heero frowned as he considered how to explain this to Ron and the other wizards who, hadn’t properly considered the question. 

“That’s a bit of a toughy.. The answer is both yes and no.” Duo cut in. “Magic works in two ways…  Most wizards don’t really know this, cause you guys never leave earth, so you don’t really realize the difference. See there’s the magic stored in your body. That’s the magic you use that powers all your magic. How that works… well I bet Brian could prolly explain better than I can, but essentially, we’re all giant magic batteries and when we cast spells, do accidental magic, or in the case of us newtypes, use magical abilities, we drain our reserves. See now here’s the tricksy part of it. When your reserves get low… where does the excess magic come from to refill them?”

Dumbledore smiled, understanding immediately where Duo was heading with this line of thought.

“Ah, yes. Mr. Maxwell is quite astute. The Earth itself has untold amounts of magical energy that it emits and even Merlin and the Founders were unable to guess if our mother had any limit or if perhaps she produced it endlessly, simply that she grants us the energy that fuels our magic.” 

Duo grinned and continued on. “So you see, The earth is a giant magic generator and when you sleep, she fills up your empty batteries, so you can start the day anew. Sometimes it takes longer to fill when you really properly exhaust yourself, but as long as you heal up nice and proper, you’ll always have a way place to refill your stores long as you’re here on Earth.”

Quatre picked up at this point. “The concept that magic does not work in space is a misconception.  Likely started when wizards first went to space and learned that their spells didn’t have the same effects they assumed they would. They returned and likely told everyone that magic simply didn’t work and so Wizards stayed planted firmly on the Earth. The truth is quite different. Magic works absolutely fine in space… in fact I might say it’s even more powerful in space than it is on Earth because certain Earthly factors that limit it aren’t present. The key factor though is that in space, there is no earthly generated magic to refill your reserves.”

Ron’s eyes widened. “So Voldemort is a muggle while he’s in space as soon as he’s cast a couple of spells? No wonder we haven’t heard from him, he’s all outta juice. Man, he really fucked up.”

“Ronald!” Hermione and Mrs. Weasley yelled at him at the same time.

He went beat red but continued on. “Well.. I mean… “

Duo grinned. “Screwed the pooch.” he laughed

Quatre grinned. “If only that were the case, we would be quite lucky and this would make things much easier. However… it is not the case.”

Dumbledore nodded, but it was Hermione who spoke up. “There’s magic in space, isn’t there.”

Quatre nodded. “There is. Wizarding magic isn’t receptive to it. Born of the Earth, your bodies are attuned to earthly magic. Wherever the magic of outer space comes from, it ignores you and you ignore it, however, Newtypes are not born of Earth. Being born of space, we are more than capable of recharging in space.”

“Hey! Then how can you recharge on Earth?” Ron .interjected.

“Well, Newtypes are still humans. We originated on Earth and simply evolved to better survive in space. We can recharge using Earth’s magic just as we can in space.”

Ron mumbled. “Cheater.”

Duo grinned.

“So what does that mean for Voldemort then?” Ginny spoke up.

Heero frowned. “That while he cannot recharge his own magic, he is surrounded by Newtypes who can. He might be able to recharge through… other means.”

A collective series of gasps as it dawned on everyone.

Quatre nodded. “Correct. He’s likely killing those who show the ability to use magic and stealing their reserves to keep his own supplies high. Meanwhile, given how powerful he is, he will be unmatched wherever he went.”

He stood and addressed the room. “Everyone will monitor the news very closely. We must keep close to any contacts we have in space. Someone somewhere knows something. Riddle is most definitely killing. We just need to find the trail he’s leaving, then we can strike.” 

***

In the end, they had decided to meet weekly and everyone would keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary until they could locate Voldemort. Quatre, Heero and Duo would sweep every newsreel, every camera, every vid-phone call, every shady deal. Someone, somewhere knew something and they would find that person. Then They would come at Tom Riddle with a force he had never known before. They would end him.

She looked out at the Hogwarts express as students boarded it to go home, wondering what it must be like to go home with no worries in the world. This year had ended so peaceful, relatively. It was almost like he’d already been defeated… so many students thought that him fleeing meant that he was gone for good. She knew better. She knew the storm had just begun.

***

The Hogwarts expressed came out of a tunnel, nearing London. It wouldn’t be long now. The trip from Hogwarts to London only took a few hours, but it was always a cathartic feeling, escaping the vigors of school to return home for the summer. Luna was excited to see her daddy again. A summer filled with exploring, searching for Crumple-Horned Snorkaks and Nargles, and maybe even spending a weekend or two with Neville Longbottom would prove to be an exciting time. The train stopped and she looked out the window. Metal Giants, much like the ones Heero and his brothers had befriended were moving up to the train and surrounding it. However these were covered in vast robes of black with faces of white terror, A green skull lit up the sky, before a bright light engulfed everything.


	34. Operation Landfall

Harry was watching as his friends and classmates boarded the express. Ron was heading home, as was Hermione, but he didn’t need to. Never again would he return to the Dursleys. Harry and Draco were heading home with his brothers. Harry riding with Trowa, Draco with Duo and everyone’s trunks packed inside one of Heavyarms missile loadouts-turned cargo storage.

Duo had been laughing the whole time they loaded up the trunks, Mocking Trowa that he’d be running out even sooner, whatever that had meant. Trowa rolled his eyes, because they wouldn’t be fighting anyone between Hogwarts and London. 

Their planned route would be to follow the train to london, then just before they entered muggle London Apparate to the France Estate where they would stay until they figured out where Riddle was holed up and then deal with him. Quatre was worried about a possible attack on the train station. Riddle had been quiet for far long. If he was going to do anything, it would definitely be an attack on the muggle side of the train station, when all the muggle borns were heading home for the year. Quatre, Heero and Hermione had all agreed, that was the most logical move. 

None of them had been prepared for what really happened.

***  
They had been flying at a slow pace. Moving just a little ways behind the train. Far enough to stay out of sight, but close enough to keep the train on their monitors. Duo, Harry and Draco had been enjoying a ludicrous game of I Spy, Heero had admittedly been flying on autopilot to get a little rest in between here and the station, where he wanted to be at his best and Trowa was only half paying attention to the train as he had Harry in his cockpit, being egged on by Draco and Duo over coms. Had it not been for Wu Fei, they might not have reacted in time.

Nothing had come up on radar… The suits, sadly, just weren’t built for wizards in mind, so when the Giant green skull had appeared in the air, not everyone had immediately noticed it.

Wu Fei, however, had immediately turned on the alarms and sped towards the train.

That split second was all it had taken though, for enemy mobile suits to open fire on the train. 

Quatre would remember this moment as day that Hermione Granger truly earned herself her numeric designation of Zero-7. Zech’s had already gotten Zero-6 by proxy, but there hadn’t been any other pilots in the war that really earned the respect of the pilots and lived to be granted the prestigious award of getting a numeric designation by the five of them. 

Later they would discover that, after the ‘Battle of Hogwarts’: what most of the student body had dubbed the demonstration between the Professors and the two gundams, Hermione had done a bit of research of her own. She had created a shield spell of quite a unique design, powerful enough to divert the blast of a mobile suit. The spell had knocked her out cold, but she had saved the lives of the entire student body as the train was enveloped in the light of a massive blast of energy from the large beam cannon held by the lead suit. Her spell had covered the front of the train & redirection the beam around the train, instead of through it. 

Heero took aim, charging his buster rifle to 25%, powerful enough to take out the lead suit, just as Duo and Wu Fei were charging the other four. This battle would be over before it began.

Quatre’s eyes widened, he doubled over as his hand clenched his chest and it was all he could do to scream over the coms. “NO! Don’t Kill Them!”

The sudden pain he felt, the sudden presence that was overwhelming him. Sandrock hit the ground as Quatre blacked out. Trowa immediately diverted to protect his lover.

Heero, literally in the process of firing, had diverted at the last second, missing entirely and then the battle ensued. 

The enemy suits were clearly of Riddle’s design and not even old models at that. Based off of Mariemaia’s serpents, each of the suits had a bone white skull mask over the face, a single double-gatling on the left hand and a beam saber on the right. They wore large, black cloaks that seemed to have been enchanted, providing both an improved level of defense and impaired sensors, making it difficult to track. A pair of head mounted vulcans and shoulder mounted missile launchers. The suits were well enough suited for both long range and close range, but what surprised all of them was the skill of the pilots. Whoever was in these suits were pros. 

The battle had raged longer than any of the pilots had wanted. Reminded of the end the Barton Rebellion, they were fighting a defensive battle. Being unable to go for kill shots, with Sandrock completely out of the fight and Trowa focusing on the defense of the train, shooting down any stray missiles, they were taking more and more damage than they had wanted to.

Surprisingly, the turn of the battle had not been any doing of their own, but by several 6th and 7th years who had climbed on to of the train and started firing spells into the fray. Those tactical classes that had occured… thanks again to Hermione’s genius, had armed the boys with a small militia of proficient anti-suit wizards, enough magic to slow down or entirely halt their foes. 

In the end, they disabled each of their suits and The boys had landed, heading over to capture their foes, intent on getting info out of them through any means necessary.

When Heero forced the hatch open of the lead suit though, he recoiled in horror. The sudden truth of what they were facing rocked him to the core and he feared for how Quatre would react when he came to, now understanding why he was unconscious.

Staring into Heero’s eyes, was the blank eyed stare of Rashid Kurama, clearly under the effects of the imperious curse.


End file.
